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Central NY January 30, 2024 8:23PM HT
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Assemblyman Al Taylor, D-Manhattan, speaks in the Assembly Chamber at the state
Capitol on Monday, Jan. 28, 2019, in Albany, N.Y. (AP Photo/Hans Pennink)
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CAPITAL TONIGHT
NEW YORK LAWMAKER'S PERSONAL EXPERIENCES LED TO SUPPORT FOR THE MEDICAL AID
IN DYING ACT
By Susan Arbetter New York State
PUBLISHED 7:30 PM ET Jan. 30, 2024 PUBLISHED 7:30 PM EST Jan. 30, 2024
SHARE
In this partisan political environment, it’s rare to hear an elected official
admit he’s changed his mind, but New York state Assemblyman Al Taylor
acknowledges he did.
“I didn’t want to have that conversation because I had an opinion. It was a
strong opinion,” he told Capital Tonight of his opposition to the Medical Aid in
Dying Act. “And life shifts.”
For more than three and a half years, Taylor watched his father fight cancer and
lose.
“It was selfish on my part. My dad was like, ‘I can’t live like this.' And the
first thing I thought was hey, perhaps we need to shuffle the pillows (or) do
something encouraging, maybe dessert. Because selfishly, I didn’t want to
understand what I was hearing,” he said.
Taylor’s father became more and more insistent that he wanted to die until he
passed away in April 2023.
“I know if you could turn that clock back and say hey dad, do you want this
choice, he would cash in on that choice,” Taylor said.
Over the past eight years, advocates for the Medical Aid in Dying Act, including
those facing terminal diagnoses, have shared stories to help push the bill over
the finish line in the Legislature. But the legislation has faced, and continues
to face, strong opposition from groups including people with disabilities who
argue the law does not do enough to protect them from coercion and
exploitation.
Advocates for the bill have pushed back on that assertion.
The current version of the Medical Aid in Dying bill is sponsored by state
Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin and state Senate Judiciary Chair Brad
Hoylman-Sigal.
There are laws supporting medical aid in dying in 10 states and the District of
Columbia.
According to Jules Netherland, who has a terminal breast cancer diagnosis, and
serves as the managing director of research and academic engagement at the Drug
Policy Alliance, it’s the most personal choice of one’s life.
“As someone with a terminal illness, I think a lot about what I want, and what I
want is a good death,” Netherland told Capital Tonight. “And that means, for me,
one where I can be at home with my partner, who I love so deeply, and my
friends, and the medical team that has provided care for me.”
In the time she has left, Netherland said she doesn’t want to be worrying about
a bad death.
“I hope to be around for a long time. I have no interest in dying prematurely,”
Netherland said. “But when that time comes, I know it’s going to be sad, but I
also want it to be beautiful. And this law gives me that option.”
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