On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins signaled that after more than a decade of relentless advocacy and pushback in the halls of the state Capitol, the Medical Aid in Dying Act will likely be heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk this year.

“I do believe there are the votes, and it is likely it will come to the floor,” she told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference.

The bill, which would legalize medically assisted suicide via prescription for terminally ill, mentally competent adults, passed in the Assembly to some surprise last month after never before having been brought to the floor.

In the intervening weeks, Stewart-Cousins had said that sentiment in the upper chamber was shifting, but she wasn’t certain the votes were there to pass. 

“It’s, again, a conversation that has evolved considerably,” she said Thursday. “The majority of the conference felt comfortable with providing options for people during difficult end-of-life times.”

While the state Assembly is scheduled to conclude on June 17 thanks to the late budget, the Senate only has until the end of next week as originally scheduled to act on legislation.  

Advocates argue that the bill is about choice and limiting what they describe as unnecessary suffering in individuals who are in end-of-life situations. They insist that the guardrails the bill provides, including the need for both a written and oral request, a determination by at least two physicians that the individual is terminally ill, and the need for the individual to administer the prescription themselves, should assuage concerns as should the experiences of other states where assisted suicide is legal.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal carries the bill in the Senate and explained that the conversations Stewart-Cousins referenced have centered around members getting to a place where they view the bill as "not about ending life, but shortening death," and ensuring guardrails are in place.

“One of the most important roles of us in government is to limit human suffering,” he said. “We’re talking about people who have been determined by at least two physicians that they are going to die, the conclusion has been that they should have the right to control how they are going to die.”

Opposition to the bill ranges from a desire to improve palliative and end-of-life care to health care disparities that could result in individuals feeling they don’t have other options, to concerns about the concept of assisted suicide being a slippery slope that they argue could evolve to include individuals in non-end of life situations. 

Bob Bellafiore is spokesperson for the New York Catholic Conference, who opposes what he described as ‘state-sanctioned suicide.’ With the bill unlikely to come to the floor until next week, he is imploring members in the Senate majority to take that time to carefully consider their stance.

“If you have concerns, say no,” he said. “I’ve been around this town for about 40 years; there has never been a vote in my time here that has the kind of long-term ramifications that this one does. I have never met a legislator here who regrets voting no on a bill they aren’t sure about.”

Hoylman-Sigal countered that lawmakers should feel settled with the bill’s language, and dismissed concerns about mental capacity issues, insisting that the bill would allow for a referral if deemed necessary.

“If either of the two attending physicians request a mental health examination of the patient, then our bill will dictate that course of action,” he said. 

At an unrelated news conference members of the Senate Republican conference said they had yet to conference the bill, but indicated significant concerns about language.

New York would join 11 other states with similar laws in place.