New York enacts aid‑in‑dying law

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Medical Aid in Dying Act took effect in New York on Aug. 5, creating a legal process for some terminally ill patients to obtain medication they may self-administer to end their lives. Hochul signed the measure, S.138/A.136, on Feb. 6 after negotiations with lawmakers and advocates over additional safeguards. (governor.ny.gov) The law applies to terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live, according to the governor’s office and the bill text. Assembly Member Amy Paulin, the bill’s Assembly sponsor, said the measure gives patients “one more compassionate option” at the end of life. State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, the Senate sponsor, said terminally ill New Yorkers with fewer than six months to live “deserve the right to die with dignity.” Opponents, including some religious groups, have continued to challenge the policy publicly as the law takes effect. (nysenate.gov) ### Who can use the law now that it is in effect? New York’s law is limited to adults who are terminally ill, mentally capable and expected to live six months or less, according to amNewYork and Hochul’s signing announcement. The governor’s office also said the law is limited to New York residents. (governor.ny.gov) The statute creates a pathway for an eligible patient to request medication for medical aid in dying, but the patient must self-administer it. The legislative pages for S.138 and A.136 describe the measure as relating to a terminally ill patient’s request for and use of medication for medical aid in dying. (amny.com) ### What safeguards did Hochul say were added before she signed it? Hochul said on Feb. 6 that she secured “additional guardrails” before signing the legislation. Her office listed a mandatory five-day waiting period between when a prescription is written and filled and said the patient’s oral request must be recorded by video or audio. (governor.ny.gov) The governor’s office also said the law requires a mandatory mental-health evaluation by a psychologist or psychiatrist. Other protections listed by Hochul include barring anyone who may benefit financially from the patient’s death from serving as a witness to the oral request or as an interpreter, requiring the initial physician evaluation to be in person, and allowing religiously oriented home hospice providers to opt out. (nysenate.gov) ### What have supporters said as the law took effect? Amy Paulin said on Aug. 5 that the law is about “dignity, autonomy, mercy, and respecting deeply personal end-of-life decisions.” She said experience in other states shows some eligible patients find comfort in having the option even if they never take the medication. (governor.ny.gov) Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist quoted by JNS, said, “It isn’t assisted suicide. It is managing dying in a more humane way.” JNS reported that New York became the 14th U.S. jurisdiction, including the District of Columbia, to legalize the practice. ### What are the main clinical questions around the new process? (governor.ny.gov) The law’s text and Hochul’s signing statement place mental capacity and psychiatric review near the center of the process. Because eligibility is limited to mentally capable patients and the state added a mandatory mental-health evaluation, physicians, psychologists and psychiatrists will have defined roles in assessing whether a patient can proceed. (amny.com) amNewYork reported that the law took effect after more than a decade of advocacy and negotiation over how to structure those protections. The procedural requirements — residency, prognosis, recorded oral request, waiting period and in-person physician evaluation — set the framework clinicians and institutions will now have to follow. (jns.org) ### Where is the law written, and what comes next? The legislation is now listed by the New York State Senate as Chapter 714, signed on Feb. 6, 2026, and added to the Public Health Law as Article 28-F, sections 2899-d through 2899-s. The Senate and Assembly bill pages show the measure passed both chambers on June 9, 2025, before it was delivered to Hochul on Dec. 31, 2025. (governor.ny.gov) As of Aug. 6, patients, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists and hospice providers are operating under the new statute, and the governor’s office has already identified institutional opt-out rules for religiously oriented home hospice providers. The operative text and bill history are posted on the New York State Senate’s legislative pages for S.138 and A.136. (amny.com) (governor.ny.gov) (nysenate.gov)