(Unherd) – Last September, I found myself — confused, groggy, and irritable — staring into the surgical dome light of my local hospital’s emergency room. The doctor and my parents at my bedside informed me that I had been found by a passing police officer, not breathing, and with no pulse, after my ventilator hose had become disconnected and severe hypoxia kicked in. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation brought me back, and I’d been transported to the ER. I was alive — thanks to the determination of law enforcers and local medical personnel to keep me that way.

New York’s proposed Medical Aid in Dying Act threatens to undo this presumption in favour of lifesaving, especially for people with disabilities such as me. This month, the bill passed in a vote of 81 to 67 in the Assembly, the lower chamber of the state legislature. It is now on its way to a vote in the state Senate. (Read More)