With Gov. Kathy Hochul acknowledging she has yet to decide on how she will act on assisted suicide legislation that passed the state legislature in June, Bishop Robert Brennan is calling on Catholics to make their voices heard.
“Assisted suicide disproportionately affects the poor, the vulnerable, and especially individuals suffering with mental illness,” Bishop Brennan said in a Sept. 29 statement. “There are better ways to support those facing end-of-life challenges — through improved palliative care, pain management, and compassionate support systems.”
“So I am asking Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens to reach out to the governor and tell her where you stand in this issue,” he added. “It is easy to contact her office today and ask her to veto this legislation through the New York State Catholic Conference website, nyscatholic.org.
“We cannot be complacent — please make your voice heard.”
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In close votes by New York standards, State senators passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act (MAID) in a 35-27 vote on June 9, sending the bill to Hochul for a signature after the state assembly had previously passed the bill in an 81-67 vote in April. If enacted into law, MAID would allow terminally ill people with less than six months to live to end their lives with fatal medications prescribed by doctors.
Not only were the votes close, but the diocese noted that among the Democrats who opposed the bill — especially in the Assembly — were representatives from poorer and underserved communities, particularly in Brooklyn.
Hochul, a Catholic, hadn’t publicly commented on the bill until Sept. 26. Speaking at a press conference, the governor didn’t indicate whether she would sign or veto the bill. Instead, she spoke about separating her personal beliefs from her decision-making as governor, and acknowledged the passion on both sides of the assisted suicide issue.
“So I do have the ability — and have many times embarked on this — to separate my personal beliefs, my religious beliefs,” Hochul said. “But I always have a very solid moral code that never leaves me when I make decisions for New Yorkers.”
“I hear from a lot of people on that issue; it is strong,” she added. “There are strong views on both sides of the spectrum, intense views on this, and I’m conscious of that, and it’s gonna be a very weighty decision on me between now and the end of the year.”
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Bishop Brennan said he appreciates the serious consideration Hochul is giving the bill.
“My hope is that she will see the serious consequences of introducing assisted suicide here in New York and veto the bill,” Bishop Brennan said.
The New York State Catholic Conference, the public advocacy arm of the state’s Catholic bishops, similarly said it appreciates Hochul “giving this decision the weight it deserves,” calling it “a matter of life and death.”
“We are confident that, ultimately, she will come to the same conclusion as the American Medical Association, which called assisted suicide ‘incompatible with the physician’s role as healer’ and said it ‘would be difficult or impossible to control,’ and would pose serious societal risks,’ ” the conference said in a Sept. 29 statement.