TONAWANDA, N.Y. (WKBW) — Dozens of people braved the cold Wednesday night for a candlelight vigil outside First Trinity Lutheran Church on Niagara Falls Boulevard in the town of Tonawanda, urging Governor Kathy Hochul to veto New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act.
The controversial bill passed in both the state Assembly and Senate and now awaits the governor's signature. This vigil was one of several planned across the state this week opposing the legislation.
If signed into law, the Medical Aid in Dying Act would permit terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to request a prescription for medication to end their lives. The medication must be self-administered, and eligibility requires patients to be mentally capable of making both verbal and written requests. Two physicians must confirm the patient's condition.
Similar laws already exist in 11 states and the District of Columbia.
WATCH: Western New Yorkers hold candlelight vigil to oppose Medical Aid in Dying Act
Dr. Stanley Bukowski, a retired internal medicine specialist with 40 years of experience treating patients with terminal illnesses, spoke at the vigil.
"We can support people. We can keep them comfortable. Assisted suicide is against the principles that have been the foundation of medical care in Western society for over 2,000 years. There's a good reason for that," Bukowski said.
He expressed concerns about the law's potential expansion, citing examples from other countries.
"Assisted suicide cannot be contained. We've seen that in other countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, Canada. There are horrors there because once you establish the principle by passing the first law, you have to start expanding it more and more and more because people demand it. They think that it's treatment," Bukowski said.
Doris Hoffmann, a Buffalo resident and former nurse in Germany for about five years, shared her perspective based on her experience with patients who wanted assisted medical suicide.
"It's so easy for them to just take the cocktail and get rid of the suffering," Hoffmann said. "You know, it's not up to us to decide when we're dying. I can understand if you don't believe in an afterlife and a God. I can totally understand that people say, 'Oh, this is easy.'"
Todd Vaarwerk, a disabilities advocate, attended the vigil and expressed concerns about the bill's impact on his community.
"I don't want somebody coming around doing my social evaluation that decides that giving me pills to allow me to check out is cheaper than the services that would keep me at home and in my community," Vaarwerk said. "It should be something that we should be taking the time to look at, not trying to rush it to get it signed by a deadline."
Vaarwerk added that he feels the bill is being rushed to the governor's desk and wants more time for it to be reviewed.
New York State Assembly Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes has adamantly opposed the bill since she first heard about it. In June, she and other Assembly members explained their opposition, with Peoples-Stokes citing personal reasons regarding her father.
"He wanted to die two years before he did, but he didn't, and because he didn't, my grandson got a chance to know him," Peoples-Stokes said. "I watched my mom die. I watched my daughter die, and I know that for a fact that none of us is getting out of here alive. At some point or the other, we're all going to go, but I don't believe that there should be a combination of six drugs offered to someone to end their life."
Assembly Bill A136 and Senate Bill S138 have both passed in their respective chambers. Assembly Bill co-sponsor Representative Phil Steck's office released a statement supporting the legislation.
“Since first being elected to the New York State Assembly, I have been a proud cosponsor of the Medical Aid in Dying legislation. I strongly believe that New Yorkers who are facing serious illness that causes untold suffering should have the freedom to proceed in accordance with their wishes. For example, my office was contacted by a constituent suffering from stage IV cancer who would be directly impacted by this legislation. I sent a letter to Governor Hochul on his behalf urging her to sign this legislation into law”
Representative Phil Steck
NYS Assemblymember (D)
