This month after more than a decade of relentless advocacy, the New York state Senate joined the state Assembly in passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which authorizes medically assisted suicide for individuals in end of life situations.

Advocates like Corinne Carey, Compassion & Choices' senior campaign director for New York and New Jersey, have been pushing the legislation for years largely by communicating the stories of individuals who they argue suffered needlessly, dying in pain after being diagnosed with a terminal illness and leaving their loved ones to share their stories.

She told Spectrum News 1 that those experiences are what ultimately swayed lawmakers who continued to wrestle with doubts and concerns.

“People telling their stories and sharing with lawmakers the very deep and intimate details of the death of a loved one,” she said. “I am so grateful to lawmakers for engaging with us and asking really smart and deep questions, this is a triumph for grassroots advocacy. That is what powered this campaign.

Deput state Senate Majority Leader Mike Gianaris said those stories were indeed crucial in the passing of the bill.

“When we discussed this as a conference, the gut wrenching personal stories that were told, it seemed like everybody had one, a relative, a loved one who was suffering at the end of life and didn’t have the capability to make the choice they would have liked to have made, I think that swayed a lot of people at the end of the day and it got over the finish line,” he said.

The bill passed with significant opposition, both from advocates as well as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle though opposition was primarily from Republicans.

Bob Bellafiore, spokesperson for the New York State Catholic Conference, called it "very disappointing" that the Senate ultimately followed up on the Assembly’s approval with one of their own. He insisted the guardrails which include that an individual must be terminally ill, mentally competent, and administer the medication themselves, are not only insufficient but the bill represents a slippery slope and ignores the possibility of improved palliative care and health care disparities.

“There is no way to open pandora's box a little bit. It’s like being a little bit pregnant or a little bit dead,” he said.

Now that the bill has passed in both houses, it is up to Gov. Kathy Hochul to make a final decision, and for advocates on both sides attention has turned to how to best pursued the governor to act in their favor.

The governor herself is Catholic, prompting speculation over what role faith might play. Bellafiore argued that’s a personal decision which Hochul will have to weigh as she makes the final call.

“It’s up to the governor to decide how she wants her faith to play into this,” he said. “But there are tons of reasons to oppose this bill that have nothing to do with religion,” he said.

Bellafiore said he does hope she will consider her legacy and veto the bill, arguing that no ammount of chapter amendments can change the fundamentals of the concept. 

“Does she want to be known as the governor who helped families, strengthened families, the poor, the destitute and ignored, or does she want to be remembered as the governor who for the first time allowed doctors to help their patients kill themselves?” he said.

When it comes to Hochul’s decision, Carey told Spectrum News 1 that she hopes like the Llegislature, the governor simply opens her mind up to the personal stories being shared and the idea that the bill does not deal with death so much as limiting suffering given that individuals must have six months or fewer to live making death inevitable. 

“I hope she is reading the letters she is getting from terminally ill people and family members,” she said.

She too pointed to legacy and public opinion, urging Hochul to pay attention to public polling and New Yorkers’ support for a choice to end suffering when death is inevitable. 

“How often do you get to satisfy this many constituencies across New York, you have 70% of New Yorkers in poll after poll saying they want access to this option,” she said. 

A YouGov poll last year found over 70% of New Yorkers support legalizing medically assisted suicide, while others have the number slightly lower but still a majority. 

When it comes to the governor’s religion, Carey pointed to her stance on reproductive rights as evidence that she is willing to take things issue-by-issue when it comes to decisions that could relate to faith.

As is almost universally the case, Gov. Hochul’s office simply told us she will review the legislation. Similar laws are currently on the books in 11 other states.