NYSPA POSITION STATEMENT
MEDICAL AID IN DYING (4/2/25)

At the March 15, 2025, meeting of the New York State Psychiatric Association, (NYSPA) the NYSPA Council adopted a resolution in support of the New York Medical Aid in Dying Act (A136/S138).This is a change from NYSPA’s previous neutral position on the issue. The NYSPA Council reached this decision after receiving recommendations from its Committee on Legislation and the Psychiatry and Law Committee. The NYSPA Council recognizes that similar statutes have been enacted in ten other states over the last two decades. New York's pending legislation is modeled after those laws and includes safeguards to protect individual autonomy, including a mandatory diagnosis of a terminal illness or condition with less than six months to live, two separate requests from the patient (verbal and in writing), as well as a mental health evaluation if the attending or consulting physician determines the patient may lack decision-making capacity because of a mental health disorder or condition causing impaired judgement. 

NYSPA joins MSSNY and other statewide medical specialties in supporting this legislation.  At the same time, NYSPA also supports and respects a physician’s choice to decline to participate in any activities that fall within the proposed statutory definition of medical aid in dying.

Click here to view NYSPA's Position Statement.