Opinion: Let New Yorkers choose how we say goodbye

For most of our adult lives, we are entrusted with the opportunity to make our own choices, to seek our own path to a happy and productive life. Forty-seven years ago, after a couple of months of dating, we married. Our family continues to grow, now expecting our first great-grandchild! And although we were born in Puerto Rico, New York is our home. Our family and friends are here, and it is the place, hopefully decades from today, where we will want to move on to the next life.

We rejoiced when in this past legislative session, the state Legislature passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act. Now awaiting action by Gov. Kathy Hochul, the bill would allow a patient diagnosed with a terminal disease and within six months of death the right to request and receive a prescription to peacefully end their life. We want to continue having choices until it’s time to say farewell to our “seres queridos,” or loved ones.

Unlike laws in some other countries, there are strict qualifications on who can receive the medication and a well-defined process that has worked for nearly 30 years in Oregon, where it was first passed, and in the 11 other jurisdictions in the U.S. where it is legal.

Along with the prognosis of less than six months to live, we as patients must be capable of making our own health care decisions, acting completely voluntarily and able to self-administer the medication. Euthanasia, mercy killing and lethal injection all remain illegal, and there are criminal penalties for fraud, abuse or coercing a patient into using the law.

While doctors serve a critical role in the process, it is the patients who must be in control to make the decisions about end-of-life planning. But it is also important to note that no health care provider, doctor or hospital association is forced to participate and may opt out for any reason.

In the 10 years since the state Legislature has considered this law, support among the general public has risen to 70%. Influential groups like the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians and the New York State Bar Association endorsed the measure and urged its passage this year. But the real voices of support come from people like us, asking for the right to make our own end-of-life decisions. This is not an easy decision. We have called New York our home for many, many years, and to know that when the time comes, we would have to leave our home to die with dignity was too much for us to bear.

We thank the state Legislature for approving the Medical Aid in Dying Act, and we urge Hochul to swiftly sign this legislation, so we all have the full complement of end-of-life options.