Protect bodily autonomy: Authorize medical aid in dying
In 1970, when New York lawmakers legalized abortion, 13 Republican state senators voted for it. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that there is a constitutional right to abortion. Sadly, the recently leaked draft opinion indicates that the court, now dominated by GOP appointees, could reverse a half-century of legal precedent and overturn Roe.
I am a lifelong Catholic Republican who has always believed in bodily autonomy. As an Assembly member from 2007-2016, I always stood up publicly for reproductive rights, including as an early sponsor of the Reproductive Health Act.
Enacted in 2019, it added constitutional protections to the 1970 New York law from the Roe decision to ensure access to care throughout a woman’s pregnancy if her health or life is at risk, or a pregnancy is not viable.
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s draft opinion, New York Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-cousins correctly concluded, “Right to privacy, right to your body autonomy, all of those things are things that, I believe, sadly, we will have to codify in order for New Yorkers to be okay. … So much of the quality of knowing that you have control over your life’s choices makes such a difference in terms of how you proceed in life.”
As a woman with a daughter and granddaughters, I greatly appreciate the urgency for New York lawmakers to protect the bodily autonomy of pregnant women. However, bodily autonomy should not be limited to reproductive rights. It should extend from adulthood to the end of life.
That’s why lawmakers also should take urgent action to protect the bodily autonomy of people with incurable, terminal diseases to decide if they want
the option to peacefully end intolerable suffering by passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act.
To paraphrase Stewart-cousins, it makes such a difference, if you are terminally ill, to know you have control over the life choice on medical aid in dying because you no longer fear dying in agony. It’s a choice 11 jurisdictions have authorized, including New Jersey.
Unfortunately, I witnessed both of my parents experience prolonged suffering at the end of their life.
My dad, Peter Lacy, died in 1994 of mesothelioma, an aggressive, deadly form of cancer. Despite receiving the best hospice care and pain relief available, he died in excruciating pain.
Following a series of strokes in 1995, my mom, Edna Calkins Lacy, lost her ability to swallow, and needed a feeding tube to stay alive. After consulting with our family, her Methodist minister, dad’s Catholic priest, and doctors, we decided to remove her feeding tube. For 11 agonizing days, we watched her starve to death.
Passing the Medical Aid in Dying Act is not only the compassionate thing for my former legislative colleagues to do for their terminally ill constituents who desperately need this option this year or they will suffer needlessly at the end of life. It is a politically wise move.
New York polls show the vast majority of our state’s physicians and voters support medical aid-in-dying legislation across the geographical, political, and racial spectrum. In addition, a recent poll shows that Northeast voters, including New Yorkers, are five times more likely than not to vote for a legislative candidate or elected official who sponsors or supports medical aid-indying legislation.
In short, no one loses elections because they support the full range of end-of-life care options. It’s because this is not a political issue. It’s a human issue. Everyone dies, regardless of where they live, their politics, or race. And no one wants to die with needless suffering.
Clearly, bodily autonomy is under attack. It’s time for New York lawmakers to stand up to this attack in all its forms. Lawmakers who stand up for one right to bodily autonomy should stand up for them all.
Otherwise, bodily autonomy is a convenient, meaningless political slogan.