Statement of Matt Vallière, President and Executive Director of the Patients’ Rights Action Fund

December 17, 2025

________________________

The Patients’ Rights Action Fund, a national disability rights organization, decries Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to sign legislation legalizing assisted suicide in New York, particularly given the shocking  video released today showing how the “safeguards,” similar to those in the New York state plan, are falling short. See related news released by Aging With Dignity today.

The amendments added that try to address the serious dangers that come with legalizing assisted suicide do nothing to protect people who deserve care and support from the state and their medical teams. As the video of Eileen Mihich shows us, once these laws are passed, it is impossible to prevent abuse of the law in which people not on the verge of dying can utilize assisted suicide. There is no true accountability to protect patients from potential harm, abuse, or coercion.

Additionally, Gov. Hochul’s statements undermine the importance of hospice and palliative care, which provides the compassionate end-of-life experience for which so many are advocating, but is drastically underutilized in New York. We need more access to this care, not a fast track to death in the absence of it.

We call on state lawmakers in New York to examine the issue more thoroughly and reject this bill and these amendments. The 2025 bill was passed without a hearing and the last hearing held by the New York State Assembly on assisted suicide was in 2018, even though the lives of New Yorkers, their medical care, and the accountability they expect state government to provide are all put at risk by this bill. Furthermore, assisted suicide laws violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, discriminate against people with disabilities, and are being challenged in federal court in three states that have laws just like this one in New York. We will continue to oppose these unjust laws and fight for patients like Eileen Mihich and Jane Allen.

###

The Patients’ Rights Action Fund (PRAF) is a leading national, non-partisan single-issue organization that protects the rights of patients, people with disabilities, older adults, and other historically underrepresented groups from deadly harm and discrimination inherent in assisted suicide laws.

PRAF advocates for patient access to high quality multidisciplinary end-of-life care, and we work against efforts that make assisted suicide a legal medical treatment that shields doctors and other medical professionals who participate in their patients’ suicides from all liability.

Media interviews available upon request.

For more information, contact:

Meg Tully, mtully@apcoworldwide.com