Death with dignity suit on par with Brooklyn pol’s legislative agenda
A group of terminally ill patients and their doctors filed suit against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and five county district attorneys over a law they argue is unclear as to one’s choice to die with dignity and a physician’s ability to provide assistance without fear of criminal prosecution.
Bronx resident Eric Seiff, named plaintiff in the suit, was diagnosed with cancer, and at 81, the former attorney “wants to be sure that if the cancer progresses to a terminal stage, and [he] finds himself in a dying process he determines to be unbearable, he has available to him the option of aid-in-dying,” according to court documents.
The question of an individual’s right to die with dignity or have a choice in the manner of their death is one addressed by New York state Sen. Diane Savino (D-Brooklyn). Last month, Savino announced an interest in amending the state’s law as it relates to aid-in-dying, colloquially known as physician-assisted suicide.