ALBANY, N.Y. – Pressure is mounting on state lawmakers to take a stand on medical aid in dying. This month, for the first time ever, the New York Assembly voted yes to allow terminally ill people the option to take a pill to end their life. This week, lobby pressure came down on the state senators.

About two dozen people from Feminists Choosing Life New York lobbied against the bill called Medical Aid in Dying. News10NBC documented their trip from Rochester to the capitol and back.

“(They’re trying) to persuade them that their life is not worth living,” said Dr. Stan Bukowski on the bus ride to Albany Tuesday. “And we don’t know that it’s not worth living.”

“It’s a situation where doctors are asked to intervene and write a prescription for death,” said Dr. Gerald Peer upon returning to Rochester that same night. “And it’s really an inversion of what physicians are called to do.”

Dr. Bukowski added, “We can control pain at the end of life and during life. We can support people who are in distress, people who think their life is no longer valuable.”

On the same day, the forces in favor of medical aid in dying were pressing the same lawmakers. One doesn’t need convincing. Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat from Manhattan, sponsors the bill.

“We’re talking about dignity. We’re talking about deciding for yourself. We’re talking about easing human suffering,” said Senator Hoylman-Sigal.

10 states and Washington D.C. allow this. Rachel Remmel, who works at the University of Rochester, has been in the fight since her terminally ill brother elected to end his life in Washington a decade ago.

“It’s not a choice between suicide and living,” Remmel said. “It’s not suicide. They’re going to die. It’s just a choice over the manner of death.”

The bill passed the Assembly 81 to 67. That means roughly 20 percent of Democrats in the Assembly voted no. The Senate Health Committee hasn’t voted on it yet and there is no vote scheduled.

In the bill, here are the factors that have to be met before a person could access the pill that stops their heart:

• The patient is terminally ill with 6 months or less to live.
• The illness is incurable and irreversible.
• The patient is at least 18 years old and has the mental capacity to make the decision.
• It’s confirmed by two doctors.

According to end-of-life care advocacy organization Compassion and Choices, only 62 percent of patients prescribed the medication actually use it. The group of people who don’t take it die from their illness or some other cause of death. They report having great peace of mind just from knowing they have the option to use the already-prescribed medication if their suffering becomes too much.

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