Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act on February 6, 2026, making New York the 14th U.S. jurisdiction to legalize the practice. The law takes effect August 5. It lets terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less request a prescription for life-ending medication — they need a mental health evaluation and there's a five-day waiting period before they can fill it. Individual providers and religiously affiliated institutions can opt out. Two federal lawsuits are trying to block it. A disability rights coalition already lost its bid for a preliminary injunction. Catholic nuns and healthcare ministries filed a second suit on July 17 and haven't sought an injunction yet.

1. Dying Patients Now Have a Choice (Compassion & Choices, Death with Dignity)

Advocates say the law gives terminally ill New Yorkers the same dignity 13 other jurisdictions already offer.

New York waited more than a decade for this law. Advocates pushed for a medical aid in dying statute in New York for over ten years before Hochul signed it in February. Veronica Darling, the litigation director at Compassion & Choices, says the law lets dying individuals "live the remainder of their life without worrying about how things are going to end."

Oregon's record shows the law is used carefully. Since Oregon's Death with Dignity Act took effect in 1997, 5,520 people have received prescriptions; 3,691 of them (67%) used the medication to die. Most were 65 or older with cancer. Supporters point to this data as evidence the law serves a narrow group of seriously ill people.

The law has real safeguards. New York's version requires a confirmed terminal diagnosis, a mental health evaluation, and a five-day waiting period between prescription and fill. Both individual providers and entire religious institutions can opt out. Supporters say New York's requirements are stricter than most other states with MAID laws.

2. But That Choice Isn't Safe for Disabled Patients (Not Dead Yet, United Spinal Association, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled)

Disability rights groups say the law offers terminally ill disabled people death before it fixes the conditions that make death seem like the only option.

Federal Medicaid cuts have stripped away the alternative. The disability coalition suing New York says $1 trillion in federal Medicaid cuts have left disabled people without adequate care — making death feel like the only realistic option.

Six months is not a reliable cutoff. Disability advocates argue that terminal prognoses are frequently wrong, and people told they have six months often live much longer with proper support. Not Dead Yet and the United Spinal Association say the law puts people on an irreversible path even when recovery is possible.

Losing the injunction didn't end the case. A federal judge denied the coalition's motion for a preliminary injunction, but the underlying lawsuit continues. The groups argue the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Affordable Care Act, and the U.S. Constitution.

3. And Faith-Based Providers Say They're Being Forced to Help (Dominican Sisters, Carmelite Sisters, Little Sisters of the Poor, Becket Fund)

Catholic healthcare ministries say opting out of prescribing still leaves them legally required to counsel and refer.

Providers who opt out must still counsel patients and make referrals. Under the law, even providers who refuse to prescribe must inform terminally ill patients of their right to assisted dying, help them meet the requirements, and refer them to a willing provider. Refusal to do any of this carries fines, professional sanctions, and criminal penalties.

The July 17 suit names four religious orders and a diocese. The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict, and Little Sisters of the Poor filed suit in federal court in Albany, alongside the Diocese of Rockville Centre. Mark Rienzi, Becket's president and lead counsel, says New York is forcing providers to participate "on pain of crushing fines and professional ruin," which he calls "both unconscionable and unconstitutional."

The Catholic groups plan to file for an injunction before August 5. If a judge doesn't block the law, faith-based hospices and eldercare providers will have to comply or face the consequences.

Where This Lands

Supporters of the law point to Oregon's 29-year record: two-thirds of patients who got a prescription actually took the medication, and most were terminally ill cancer patients. Disability rights advocates say the picture changes when you factor in Medicaid cuts: without funded alternatives, the choice to die isn't really free. And the Catholic groups say they'll face criminal penalties on August 5 unless a judge in Albany acts first.

Sources