ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Most people want a peaceful end to their lives. But will New York allow those near the end to make the call as to when to go?
Advocates in the Rochester area are campaigning for the state to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act. Ten other states already have.
It would allow terminally ill, mentally capable adults, diagnosed as having six months or less to live, to ask their doctor for medication that would allow them pass without suffering.
Among those who back it locally is a Rochester man who watched his girlfriend lose her battle with cancer.
"She tried to have a peaceful death by overdosing, but it failed miserably," he said.
"The people you see pictured behind me are all people who have died during the course of this campaign while lawmakers have sat on their hands and done nothing," said Corinne Carey, Compassion & Choices senior New York campaign director. "Many have died suffering terrible deaths."
Both the New York Assembly and Senate are set to consider the bill.