Video, Audio, Photos & Rush Transcript: Governor Hochul Reaches Agreement With State Legislature to Pass Medical Aid in Dying Act in New York

Earlier today, Governor Hochul announced an agreement with the Legislature to make medical aid in dying available to terminally ill New Yorkers with less than six months to live. This comes after careful reflection and deliberation with the bill's sponsors, advocacy organizations, and most importantly, everyday New Yorkers who shared personal experiences with the Governor. The bill, with the agreed-upon amendments, will be passed and signed in January, and the law will go into effect six months later.

VIDEO: The event is available to stream on YouTube here and TV quality video is available here (h.264, mp4).

AUDIO: The Governor's remarks are available in audio form here.

PHOTOS: The Governor's Flickr page will post photos of the event here.

A rush transcript of the Governor's remarks is available below:

Good afternoon. First, I do want to acknowledge my heroes in this fight. As I sat and talked to our incredible advocates, someone who've been on the journey for a decade - I said two words come to mind. One is courage and one is love. They're here because they're courageous people, but do not give up the fight. But someone touched them in their lives, someone that God put into their lives that they loved so deeply, that they continued on a journey not knowing how it would end, but they never gave up. So let me acknowledge Lindsey Wright. You'll be hearing from her shortly. Stacey Gibson, Kate Sanford, Barbara Thomas, Eric Wessman and Monoma Yin, and I want to thank them. Let's give them another round of applause.

Our faith leaders, our advocates from Compassionate Choices and End of Life Choices New York. We're also joined by Jennifer Jones Austin, the CEO of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, and a member of my interfaith council. And also we have a number of legislators in attendance. Linda Rosenthal, Assemblymember. Amanda Septim, Assemblymember. And Al Taylor, Assemblymember. But also the authors of this, and I want to thank them for their perseverance, their passion, their willingness to listen as I have done for many months, sometimes longer. Assemblymember Amy Paulin and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. Let's give them a special round of applause.

As I mentioned, I just wrapped up a small conversation in my office with our champions here, and each one of them had a powerful story and it made me realize - I was brought back some memories of my own story with my mom, a strong woman. Someone who did get a chance to see me become a member of Congress, but passed two months before I was nominated to be Lieutenant Governor. And she was always at my side and I was at her side when she was in her final months fighting a debilitating illness - ALS - that robbed this woman who'd dedicated her life to being an advocate for victims of domestic violence, families in stress. She became a great social worker and put her heart out there, cared for people and opened up a home for victims of domestic violence when she was 70 years old. For her 70th birthday, she didn't want to party. She wanted us to buy an abandoned funeral home. That's mom - and bring it back to life. And I remember going over there with cans of paint, fixing it up - the basement was creepy and scary. And turning it into a home of love in life that she wanted to be able to give because she had denied that when she was a child. That's the kind of mom that I lost to a disease that robbed her of everything, including her own voice. And that's what I was reflecting on when I heard about a son, husband's brother from these great champions.

So none of us are immune from that. Such as life and so is death - two forces in life that are inevitable. And so I was moved by their courage and I wanted to help them put an end to a decades long journey and say, "You can rest now. Your loved one has been honored in a way that is profound. And to the extent that you're still wounded, suffering, questioning yourself, may you rest in peace yourself in this life, may you not have that trauma and that angst any longer." That's what I wish for all my friends here.

So, I'm proud to announce that after weeks of negotiating with the Legislature, we are now going to be making medical aid in dying available to New Yorkers going forward.

And I reflected on this in something I spent a lot of time writing, and I thought about our country too - what our country was all about, what it was built upon, what was the core belief, and it was about individual rights, respecting people, their ability to worship who they choose to worship and to be able to speak freely, to assemble.

And these protections were enhanced over time. LGBTQ+ rights, women's rights, reproductive rights. We've always - especially in the State of New York - been proud of our progressive beliefs in moving progress forward and individual rights that are so sacred to us here in New York and in this country, and realizing that government sometimes stands in the way of those individual rights.

That's what I reflected on. The Founding Fathers 250 years ago envisioned a more limited government focusing on individual rights, and it is that confluence of thought that brought me to where I am today, processing also, the fact that I was raised in a strong, Catholic family. And for many, this is a moral decision, a moral judgment, and there are members of the faith community who will not accept or understand this decision I've made on behalf of not myself, but for 20 million New Yorkers.

No one has to do this. It's a choice, but a choice that is made in a situation that no other state is asking for. You need to know this - need to know. I needed to know that when I heard voices of some who feared duress, that there would be someone who was tired of taking care of someone, someone with a disability or someone who was elderly and just said, "I can't do it anymore."

That there could be coercion, duress, and pressure put on people. And I was concerned about that and I said, "How can we get out from under that?" That everyone will know that someone who makes that decision did it of free will, not under pressure. And so, those are some of the constraints I put around this.

They're not impossible, but they give me the confidence to know that those voices that were so concerned about this, that I've addressed them. I have addressed them. Also to ensure that someone is examined by doctors. And also an individual who can determine, "Does this person have the capacity, the mental ability to make this decision?" I need to know that.

I needed to know that someone truly only had six months to live. So the concerns, again, people in certain communities who said, "They've had a lifelong disability or illness." A doctor has to say, "You have six months to live, and that is it." That is what we're saying is why the guardrails here in the State of New York, and this is for New Yorkers and any hospital for because of their religious beliefs, who does not want to offer this, is not going to be required to. Not going to be required. I need to let them have their free will as well and let them operate in the moral or religious environment that they choose and believe is important. I need to protect their rights as well.

But in doing so, I believe we've crafted an elegant solution to a problem that people have fought for, but also wrestled with for a long time. Because I want you to know, I did not arrive at this lightly. But my last thoughts were sitting at a funeral - a Catholic funeral - Saturday morning this past weekend. And I heard the priest talk about being called home to eternal life. And I realize we're not talking about ending life early. We're about ending dying early, and so people can transition surrounded by family loved ones, not in a hospital bed with strangers at a time when they just slip away after grueling pain, sometimes just unbearable for a loved one to even witness. That to me is what dignity's all about.

And if a New Yorker chooses to have that under the circumstances we pre-designated, then who am I to stand in their way? That is where I'm at today with this decision.

So we have our safeguards, you can read them all, but this is one of the toughest decisions I've ever made as Governor. So I spent a lot of time on this, talked to a lot of people, but I want these people behind me to know, it was their stories that touched my heart the most. Because who am I to deny you or your loved one what they're begging for at the end of their life?

I couldn't do that any longer, and that is why I'm here to announce that we have reached an agreement, and I thank the legislators for listening to me and my concerns and to reconfirm that New York will always continue to be a bastion of freedom to worship, to speak your mind, freedom of choice. It's time we finally extend those freedoms to the terminally ill and their families.

And so, I thank all of you. I thank all of you. Your stories touched my heart. Thank you. Thank you.

Let me welcome to the podium, the senate sponsor of this bill, Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal.

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