Kathy Hochul watched her mother deteriorate from ALS for months before dying in 2014, losing her voice, vision, and ability to communicate. That experience was the hidden force behind her decision to sign the Medical Aid in Dying Act — though she insists policy must not be driven by personal experience alone.
Where this was said
At 13:02 · chapter starts 12:10
The episode moves from history to the present moment: New York Governor Kathy Hochul has just signed the Medical Aid in Dying Act, set to take effect in August 2025. Dubner walks through the law's specific guardrails — a terminal prognosis of 6 months or less, a mandatory mental health evaluation, an in-person physician visit, a 5-day waiting period after prescription, and a patient-only video or audio request [1] — Kathy Hochul "Kathy Hochul watched her mother deteriorate from ALS for months before dying in 2014, losing her voice, vision, and ability to communicate.…" 13:02 . Hochul speaks in direct, confident terms: she held the veto pen and used it as leverage to force stricter safeguards into the bill before signing. But beneath the political calculation lies profound personal grief. Hochul describes watching her mother deteriorate from ALS — losing her voice, her vision, her ability to communicate — over four to six months before dying in 2014. As a staunch Irish Catholic, Hochul acknowledges the tension with her faith, but says the experience of holding the hands of suffering constituents and hearing their stories made the case morally undeniable. The chapter closes with Hochul characterizing the bill as narrowly tailored, compassionate, and driven by her belief that government should not impose its morality on individuals facing terminal illness.
New York's Medical Aid in Dying Act, signed by Governor Hochul and effective August 2025, requires a terminal prognosis of 6 months or less for eligibility.
New York's Medical Aid in Dying bill was first introduced in the state legislature in 2016 but did not pass until Governor Hochul championed it nearly a decade later.
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