New York, NY, Tuesday, June 17 2025 – The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) applauds the passage by the New York State Legislature of two pieces of legislation supported by WBASNY and its members: A.6063/S.4423, the Grieving Families Act, and A.136/S.138, the Medical Aid in Dying Act. These bills represent progress toward equity and compassion in New York law.
WBASNY extends gratitude to Speaker Carl Heastie and Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins for their leadership in advancing these measures. We thank and commend Assemblymember Jennifer Lunsford, sponsor of the Grieving Families Act, and Assemblymember Amy Paulin, sponsor of the Medical Aid in Dying Act, as well as Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who sponsored both pieces of legislation in the Senate, for their work and commitment to the passage of these bills.
The Grieving Families Act modernizes New York’s wrongful death statute, enacted over 110 years ago, to more equitably measure the value of a life lost. In passing the Grieving Families Act, the Legislature takes a meaningful step toward rectifying historical discrimination and economic inequities such as the gender pay gap and placing all people on equal footing when measuring the value of a life.
The Medical Aid in Dying Act provides terminally ill, mentally capable New Yorkers with the right to make deeply personal end-of-life decisions with dignity, compassion and autonomy. WBASNY recognizes the complexity of this issue and commends inclusion of safeguards to protect against misuse in implementation.
We thank the New York State Assembly and Senate for their dedicated work in passing these bills and urge Governor Kathy Hochul to sign both A.6063/S.4423 and A.136/S.138 into law.
###
The Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY) is the professional membership organization of choice for more than 4,000 attorneys throughout New York State and the largest statewide women’s bar association in the country. For 45 years, WBASNY has been a singularly important resource for women lawyers, providing professional networking, continuing legal education programming, leadership training, and advocacy for the rights of women, children, and families. Through involvement with WBASNY’s 20 regional chapters and its 50 committees, WBASNY’s members collaborate with one another on a variety of issues and perform public and community service, in furtherance of its mission to promote the advancement of the status of women in society and women in the legal profession; to promote the fair and equal administration of justice; and to act as a unified voice for its members with respect to issues of statewide, national and international significance to women generally and women attorneys in particular. WBASNY holds United Nations NGO status with the U.N.’s Department of Public Information, and Special Consultative status in association with the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). WBASNY is also a founding member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations.