Gov urges passage of suicide bill

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo encouraged state lawmakers Tuesday to pass a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to request life-ending medication.

Legislation currently being considered by the state Senate and Assembly would authorize physicians to prescribe lethal medications to patients who would be required to administer them without assistance.

“I say pass the bill,” Cuomo told WAMC’s Alan Chartock. “It’s a controversial issue, it’s a difficult issue. But the older we get and the better medicine gets the more we’ve seen people suffer for too too long.”

New Jersey lawmakers passed a similar medical aidin-dying measure last month. Seven other states currently have a statute safeguarding physician-assisted death.

State Sen. Diane Savino (DStaten Island), the lead sponsor of the bill, said she felt like Cuomo’s comments came from a personal place.

“I think the governor was not speaking necessarily as the governor, he was speaking as a person who has experienced loss in his own life, just like we all have and that’s what compelled me to get involved in this,” she told the Daily News. “You know we’ve both seen people we love suffer toward the end of life and realize that what people want is to be surrounded by their family members and have some control over their final days.”

Previous efforts to pass stalled with Republicans controlling the state Senate and opposition from the Catholic Church.