April 29, 2025: The New York State Assembly passed the Medical Aid in Dying Act (A136) Tuesday by a vote of 87–61, the last step of a two-day process. On Monday, the bill was taken up by both the Health Committee and the Codes committee, passing both.
On Tuesday morning, the bill sponsors held a press conference, while the Rules Committee passed the bill and sent it to the floor.
The Assembly began considering the bill shortly after noon. Debate lasted nearly five hours, with yellow-shirted advocates glued to their seats in the gallery.
The nature of the debate was this: individual legislators would pose questions to the bill sponsor, Amy Paulin. Legislators supporting the bill tended to ask questions whose answers outlined the general benefits, features, and safeguards in the bill. Opponents asked detailed questions about features that they thought were inadequate or would have objectionable results. After a series of questions and answers, the legislator would switch to stating their assessment of the bill and how they planned to vote.
The voting began, with legislators casting their votes electronically from their seats. During this process, some legislators took floor time to explain the reasons for their vote. A surprise at the end was that five legislators were allowed to cast their vote by videoconference.
In the greater Capital region, most Democrats voted in favor: Assemblymembers Barrett, McDonald, Romero, Shrestha, Steck, and Woerner. Assemblymember Santabarbara voted against the bill.
No Republicans voted in favor of the bill, despite the fact that several had indicated that they would vote in favor. It seems as though the Republican leadership demanded that their members vote against the bill.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker
At the beginning of last year, it seemed as though Speaker Carl Heastie was blocking the bill from moving forward. As the campaign unfolded this year, Speaker Heastie was acting more favorably. He became a champion of the bill, and without his special efforts the bill would not have come up and passed.