As the nation awaits New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s decision to approve or veto legislation to legalize assisted suicide in the state, it’s becoming more evident that the United States is moving at a slow but increasing pace toward the promotion of death — which always begins with those most vulnerable.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Assisted suicide legislation has crept slowly but steadily into 11 states and D.C., with at least 16 other states that have considered it.
- New York, the “epicenter of American culture,” has approved legislation legalizing assisted suicide. If the governor signs the bill, history indicates that other states may quickly follow suit.
- Once assisted suicide becomes legal under the guise of freedom, it becomes an expectation, as has been seen in various states and countries.
- Legalizing assisted suicide sends conflicting messages, concluding that in some cases (when people are old or ill or disabled) suicide is acceptable and “dignified,” but tragic when occurring in other contexts.
WHY IT MATTERS:
If a wave of pro-assisted suicide laws sweeps the nation, as it appears it could, countless vulnerable people will die or face pressure to die regardless of their desire for it or the lack of a terminal diagnosis.
While assisted suicide is touted as a freedom, once it is legal, it becomes an expectation. Here are three examples:
1. In areas where assisted suicide has been legal for some time, legislators have either expanded or are looking to expand the laws to include non-terminal illnesses and even mental health as acceptable reasons for assisted suicide.
2. In some areas, like Oregon and California, insurance companies have begun denying true health care and treatments for patients and approving assisted suicide drugs instead.
3. In Canada, which has government-run health care, even people who are not terminally ill are now being pushed towards doctor-prescribed suicide — because it’s cheaper than taking care of people.
Assisted suicide was never about freedom and dignity, but about money and marketing. The message is that suicide is tragic for able-bodied, young people yet dignified for chronically ill, disabled, and older persons, as long as a doctor prescribes it — as if death were a form of health care for certain people.
THE BACKSTORY:
The first state to legalize assisted suicide was Oregon in 1994, with the Death with Dignity Act officially becoming law in 1997 following a lengthy legal battle. It took more than a decade for the next state to legalize it:
- 2008: Washington
- 2009: Montana (because of SCOTUS case Baxter v. Montana)
- 2013: Vermont
- 2016: California, Colorado, and Washington, D.C.
- 2018: Hawaii
- 2019: New Jersey
- 2020: Maine
- 2021: New Mexico
- May 2025: Delaware (which attempted to pass it for a decade)
In 30 years, just 11 states and D.C. have changed laws to allow doctors to use their position of power and authority to prescribe lethal cocktails to help patients commit suicide.
But given the number of states considering assisted suicide legislation, the number of laws allowing it could more than double in the next few years.
In June 2025, New York’s legislature approved assisted suicide, and 16 other states — Arizona, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Tennessee — are considering or have considered legislation that would allow physicians to assist patients in killing themselves.
If New York’s Gov. Hochul approves the legislation, will other states begin to fall in line?
It’s possible, if history is any indicator.
THE BIG PICTURE:
When it came to the nationwide legalization of abortion, New York was at the front of the line.
In 1967, Colorado allowed abortion for rape, incest, or a threat to the mother’s physical health. California, Oregon, and North Carolina followed suit with similar laws before Hawaii and New York became the first states to legalize abortion at the request of the mother in 1970 — although New York capped “elective” abortions at 24 weeks.
Soon, similar expansive abortion laws were passed in Alaska and Washington.
By the end of 1972, 16 more states had legalized abortion for various reasons.
According to New York Weekly, New York City has been called the “epicenter of American culture” — it has influenced the political and cultural landscape of the nation. With a more conservative upstate population and a more liberal population in New York City and its surrounding areas, New Yorkers are diverse and ultimately representative of a divided country:
As a melting pot of ideas and perspectives, the city serves as a crucible where political debates are waged, alliances forged, and policies shaped. While New York’s political sway may face challenges and criticisms, its role in shaping the national discourse remains paramount.
By understanding the dynamics of New York’s political influence, we gain insight into the broader forces shaping the trajectory of American politics.
The nation saw the rise of abortion in 1973 — when the Supreme Court forced legalized abortion upon every state — and then witnessed the beginning of its end 49 years later in 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned its 1973 ruling. Now, states are extremely divided in their laws, with some protecting preborn humans at varying gestational ages or markers, and others failing to protect them at all, even up to birth.
Like the debate over abortion, the debate surrounding assisted suicide has been a decades-long battle in the U.S. Once the allowance of death over life becomes cemented in law, it is eventually promoted as the “cheaper” option.
The law is difficult to undo… and the damage caused by such a law can never be undone.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
If New York does jump off the ‘assisted killing’ cliff — and it all hinges on Hochul, as there are not enough votes to override a veto — it could mark a major turning point in U.S. history and the prevailing culture of death.
If assisted suicide is just now gaining momentum and acceleration, will it (as with abortion) take another half a century or more to even attempt to put the lid back on Pandora’s box?
