February 17, 2026
If Democrats can’t kill babies through abortion, they will use assisted suicide to kill babies — and their mothers.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law this month the state’s Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act, which allows those with terminal illnesses and a prognosis of 6 months or less to live to request to be killed by their doctors.
The governor’s office claims in a news release that this was done “after careful reflection and deliberation with the sponsors of the bill, advocacy organizations, and everyday New Yorkers brave enough to share their personal experiences in order to get this legislation across the finish line.”
But Hochul wasn’t careful enough.
The governor failed to consider how this law will allow pregnant women to kill themselves and their preborn children despite a massive scandal on this subject in England happening days before Hochul announced her terms for the New York bill.
Despite SFLA’s call for women and children to be protected, Kathy Hochul signed MAID into New York state law, opening mothers in vulnerable positions to be killed at the hands of those meant to save them.
As previously reported by Students for Life of America (SFLA):
Five days after Englishmen were pushing for the death of innocent mothers and their preborn children, New York Governor Kathy Hochul released an update on the state’s Medical Aid in Dying (MAID) Act. …
Guidelines include a mandatory five-day waiting period between getting the prescription and filling it, a requirement to record by audio or video the patient consenting to assisted suicide, mandatory mental health evaluations, and more. She even allowed religious providers to opt-out of committing assisted suicide.
Hochul also limited who would be eligible for assisted suicide. Only residents of New York will be eligible under Hochul’s changes.
But there is one group not mentioned in the original bill or Hochul’s additions: pregnant mothers. …
Sadly, this isn’t unique.
Twelve U.S. states have allowed assisted suicide since as early as 2008.
California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington state all allow assisted suicide. The Illinois law will go into effect on September 12, 2026.
None of these states give restrictions for pregnant mothers.
And other states want to follow in Hochul’s footsteps. Thirteen other states are actively considering assisted suicide-related legislation. Arizona, Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia are all pushing similar bills, with several introduced after Hochul announced her intentions to sign her state’s bill.
None of these bills even mention pregnant women, much less prevent them from ending the lives of themselves and their preborn children.
North Carolina also has a bill on the table that, if passed, would make the North Carolina Institute of Medicine research whether assisted suicide is the right next step for the state. According to the bill, the North Carolina government would give $150,000 in taxpayer money to the Institute to fund the research.
But we already know this is a bad idea.
As previously reported by SFLA:
Many of these bills restrict eligibility to those with a life expectancy of six months or less despite doctors having a long history of incorrectly estimating life expectancy in patients with terminal illnesses. The National Institute of Health published a study finding doctors’ estimates to be accurate only 20% of the time on average.
Errors in prognoses can mean the difference between life and death for mothers and preborn children.
“Although doctors commonly have to prognosticate, most feel uncomfortable doing so,” says the NIH study. “Neither medical training, nor published literature, treat prognostication as important, and prognostic error is widespread. Unfortunately, prognostic error may have untoward effects on both patient care and social policy.”
Furthermore, suicide is already a leading cause of death during pregnancy.
“In the United Kingdom and Ireland, maternal suicide is the leading direct cause of death between 6 weeks and a year after the end of pregnancy and the second commonest direct cause of death occurring during or within 6 weeks of the end of pregnancy,” according to another NIH study.
“It can be challenging to imagine that someone would take their own life during a period that is generally viewed as one of the happiest events in life. Yet death by suicide is a leading cause of maternal mortality and accounts for about 20% of postpartum deaths,” according to a study from Johns Hopkins University.
Students for Life is dedicated to fighting the Death Culture of the Abortion Lobby and Assisted Suicide Cult. Our student activists have been active in Maryland and Washington state, fighting assisted suicide laws and discrimination against those with disabilities, who are often targeted by abortion and assisted suicide vendors.
And young people want a culture of LIFE. A recent poll from Students for Life of America’s Demetree Institute for Pro-Life Advancement and SurveyUSA shows that less than 1 in 10 Millennial and Gen Z registered voters support the Democrats’ abortion-up-to-infanticide position. If youth voters don’t support killing preborn children or newborns because of illness, disability, or inconvenience, how could you think they support it at any stage?
Kathy Hochul and her pro-death friends push the assisted suicide narrative with a message of “compassion” for those in tough situations. This is the same logic used to justify abortion, which kills an estimated 73 million people around the world each year.
The truth is this: it is never compassionate to convince a woman who is already struggling mentally, physically, and emotionally during a horrible medical diagnosis and treatment that she is better off dead. More than that, it is not compassionate to tell a sick woman that her child, her precious creation that has a chance at a long and joyful life, is better off dead.
Real compassion is being of service to those who need it most. People, regardless of their health prognosis, and regardless of whether they are in or out of the womb, are worth more than that.
TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT ALL LIFE NOW.
To get involved in pro-life politics in your state, CLICK HERE.
To get involved in pro-life activism on your campus, CLICK HERE.
For more information on assisted suicide, visit: Euthanasia & End of Life Issues.
CHECK OUT HOW THE PRO-LIFE GENERATION IS FIGHTING FOR LIFE AT ALL STAGES:
READ: If You Devalue Life Before Birth, You Will Devalue It During Life
READ: Students Take A Bold Stand, Testifying for LIFE in Washington State
READ: POWERFUL: Pro-Life Maryland Resident Destroyed Argument For Assisted Suicide
READ: Is Physician Assisted Suicide a Compassionate Choice?
READ: Physician Assisted Suicide Isn’t About Patient Care — It’s About Physician Laziness
READ: HORRIFYING: Retirement Community ‘Chaplain’ Advocates For Assisted Suicide