Legal Association To Study Issues Surrounding Assisted Suicide
Written by on July 8, 2023
On June 28, 2023, the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) announced the creation of a new task force to study assisted suicide.
According to the NYSBA website, the task force will review New York’s assisted suicide bill and analyze “the legal, ethical, health, public health and scientific evidence” surrounding assisted suicide. The task force will also “make recommendations about the legal, ethical, public health and policy considerations involved in helping people make end of life decisions.” NYSBA added that if assisted suicide is legalized in New York, its task force will “research issues related to challenges in implementation of the law” (for example, the potential for coercion). Furthermore, the task force will consult experts, obtain public health information, and review policies from other states and nations.
NYSBA President Richard Lewis commented, “‘These sensitive issues can present a minefield for many families during the most difficult time in their lives. Having clear-cut laws that support a person in serious illness and at the end of life will help guide them in thinking through decisions about their health care.’” Certainly, clear-cut laws regarding end-of-life issues are essential for the protection of the terminally ill. However, given that a clear-cut ban on assisted suicide is already on the books in New York, it would seem unnecessary to convene a task force to study the issue further.
At New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, we have several concerns about the NYSBA task force on assisted suicide. First, the task force’s goals appear broad and overly ambitious. As New York’s professional association for attorneys, NYSBA possesses expertise in the law. Its expertise on public health and bioethics, however, is open to question. It would be wise for the task force to limit itself to analyzing legal issues regarding assisted suicide rather than researching and making recommendations on extralegal matters. Second (and more importantly), it is possible that the true purpose of the task force is to create a favorable report about the assisted suicide bill that advocates can use to lend credibility to their lobbying efforts in the coming months and years. NYCF sincerely hopes that this is not the case, and that the task force will welcome perspectives from all sides of this important issue as it does its work.
