Assisted suicide in New York is legal in one narrow form and a felony in every other. In February 2026, Governor Hochul signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act, making New York roughly the thirteenth state to permit a terminally ill adult to request and self-administer prescribed life-ending medication under strict conditions.1New York State. Governor Hochul Signs Medical Aid in Dying Act into New York State Law The law does not take effect until roughly August 2026, six months after signing, so the Department of Health can write regulations and facilities can train staff. Outside this pathway, intentionally helping another person end their life remains a Class E felony under New York Penal Law.
Who Qualifies Under the Medical Aid in Dying Act
The Act authorizes a mentally capable, terminally ill adult with a prognosis of six months or less to request and self-administer prescribed medication to end their life.2New York State Senate. Senate Bill S138 – Relates to the Medical Aid in Dying Act Every one of the following must be true:
- Two physicians confirm a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less.
- The patient is determined mentally capable of making an informed decision, and a psychologist or psychiatrist performs a mandatory mental health evaluation. This applies to every patient, without exception.
- The patient is a New York resident.
- The initial physician evaluation happens in person.
- The patient makes an oral request that is recorded by video or audio.
After the prescription is written, a five-day waiting period must pass before it can be filled.1New York State. Governor Hochul Signs Medical Aid in Dying Act into New York State Law The patient self-administers the medication. No physician, family member, or other third party is permitted to deliver the dose, and that distinction is the entire legal architecture of the law. Active euthanasia, where another person directly causes the death, remains illegal everywhere in the United States.
What Remains a Crime Outside the Law
Everything outside the Medical Aid in Dying Act stays under the existing criminal statute. New York Penal Law Section 120.30 makes it a felony to intentionally cause or aid another person to attempt suicide.3New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 120.30 – Promoting a Suicide Attempt The offense is called promoting a suicide attempt and is classified as a Class E felony.
A Class E felony carries a maximum prison term of four years.4New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.00 – Sentence of Imprisonment for Felony A court can also impose a fine of up to $5,000, or double the amount of any financial gain from the crime, whichever is higher.5New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 80.00 – Fine for Felony This liability applies to anyone, including medical professionals, who helps someone end their life without following the Act’s requirements. Sympathetic motives are not a defense. And in Myers v. Schneiderman (2017), the Court of Appeals held that the state constitution does not recognize a fundamental right to physician-assisted suicide, which is why legalization had to come from the legislature.6Justia. Myers v Schneiderman
Provider and Facility Opt-Out
No healthcare professional is required to participate. The law protects individual providers who object, and it lets religiously affiliated health facilities decline to offer the service at all. A separate provision extends the same opt-out to religiously oriented home hospice providers.1New York State. Governor Hochul Signs Medical Aid in Dying Act into New York State Law Patients in regions served primarily by religiously affiliated hospital systems may need to look further to find a willing physician.
Death Certificates and Life Insurance
Medical aid in dying statutes, including New York’s, specify that using the law is not legally considered suicide. The death certificate lists the underlying terminal illness as the cause of death. That matters for life insurance: most policies contain a suicide exclusion clause, usually for the first two years, that lets an insurer deny the death benefit if the policyholder dies by suicide. Because a death under the Act is classified as death from the terminal illness, that exclusion should not apply.
One caution worth flagging: if a patient obtains the prescription in New York but self-administers the medication in a state where the practice is not legal, the protections may not follow. That other state could classify the death as suicide, with consequences for insurance and other legal matters.
Federal Funding Will Not Cover It
Even where medical aid in dying is legal, federal money cannot pay for it. The Assisted Suicide Funding Restriction Act of 1997 bars federal dollars from paying for any item or service whose purpose is to cause or assist in causing a person’s death.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 US Code 14401 – Findings and Purpose Medicare and Medicaid will not cover the medication. Expect to pay out of pocket or through a private insurer that chooses to cover it.
Federal drug law does not block the state from authorizing the practice, however. In Gonzales v. Oregon (2006), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Attorney General cannot use the Controlled Substances Act to declare that physician-assisted suicide falls outside the scope of a “legitimate medical purpose.”8Legal Information Institute. Gonzales v Oregon
Legal Alternatives That Do Not Require the Act
The Medical Aid in Dying Act is one option among several. New York has long recognized other ways for a patient to shape their end-of-life care, and none of them depend on the new law.
Refusing Life-Sustaining Treatment
A competent patient can refuse any medical treatment, including treatment that keeps them alive: ventilators, feeding tubes, dialysis, anything. Refusing treatment is not treated as suicide, and providers who honor an informed refusal are protected from criminal and civil liability. The federal Patient Self-Determination Act requires every hospital participating in Medicare or Medicaid to inform patients of this right and of their right to create advance directives.
Health Care Proxy
A health care proxy lets you appoint someone you trust to make medical decisions for you if you lose the ability to make them yourself. Under New York Public Health Law, the proxy takes effect only when your doctor determines you can no longer make your own decisions.9New York State Department of Health. Health Care Proxy Your agent can make all healthcare decisions on your behalf, including withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment, unless you specifically limit that authority.
To be valid, the document must be signed in front of two adult witnesses, who also sign; notarization is not required. The person you name as agent cannot be one of the witnesses. Hospital patients generally cannot name an employee of that hospital as agent unless that person is a relative. A non-family member cannot serve as health care agent for more than ten people at the same time.10New York State Senate. New York Public Health Law 2981 – Health Care Proxy
Living Will
A living will sets out your end-of-life wishes in writing. Where a health care proxy delegates decisions to another person, a living will speaks for you directly. It takes effect when you have a terminal illness or are at the end of life and can no longer communicate. A standard New York living will covers cardiac resuscitation, mechanical ventilation, and artificial nutrition and hydration.11New York State Attorney General’s Office. New York State Living Will Having both documents gives you the strongest protection: the proxy handles situations the living will did not anticipate, and the living will gives your agent clear guidance.
Palliative Care and Hospice
Palliative care manages pain and symptoms for people with serious illness and can run alongside curative treatment at any stage. Hospice is palliative care for patients expected to live six months or less who have chosen to stop pursuing curative treatment. Medicare Part A covers hospice for patients certified as terminally ill by their attending physician and a hospice physician.12Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Hospice Electing hospice under Medicare means waiving Medicare coverage for curative treatment of the terminal condition, though Medicare still covers unrelated medical problems.
Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking
Some terminally ill patients choose to voluntarily stop eating and drinking, often called VSED, when other options feel inadequate. A competent person has the legal right to refuse food and water at any time, and the right of informed patients to refuse nutrition and hydration is well established. Death typically occurs within one to three weeks. Physicians and nurses can provide comfort care throughout, including medication for dry mouth, restlessness, or other symptoms. VSED requires no prescription, no physician approval, and no formal legal process, but it is physically demanding, and support from a hospice or palliative care team helps both the patient and the family.