Gov. Kathy Hochul said she's reached an agreement with the state New York State Legislature to sign a "Medical Aid in Dying" bill, also known as MAID. It's also known as "physician-assisted suicide." 

The measure would give terminally ill adults who have less than six months to live an option to have a doctor prescribe them a lethal medication mixture. 

It was initially passed in June. Hochul says, under the agreement she's reached with the legislature, several new provisions will be added to the version she will sign. The revised version is expected to be passed and signed next month, and will take effect six months later. 

Similar measures are already legal in 11 states, including New Jersey, as well as Washington, D.C. 

The additions being added to the bill include a five day waiting period between when the prescription for the lethal medication is written and when it is filled, a requirement for an audio or video recording by the patient requesting medical aid in dying, a mental health evaluation of the patient, barring any financial beneficiary from serving as a witness to the request for MAID, and more. 

"An incredibly difficult decision," Hochul says

"New York has long been a beacon of freedom, and now it is time we extend that freedom to terminally ill New Yorkers who want the right to die comfortably and on their own terms," Hochul said. "My mother died of ALS, and I am all too familiar with the pain of seeing someone you love suffer and being powerless to stop it. Although this was an incredibly difficult decision, I ultimately determined that with the additional guardrails agreed upon with the legislature, this bill would allow New Yorkers to suffer less–to shorten not their lives, but their deaths."

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal called the agreement historic. 

"This agreement on Medical Aid in Dying is a monumental victory for every New Yorker who has wished to peacefully end their suffering from a terminal illness," Hoylman-Sigal said. 

"This issue has always been deeply personal for me. My sister died a horrific death from ovarian cancer, and in her final days she was in pain so overwhelming that she begged for death. Her experience is, tragically, the story of so many others," said Assemblyman Amy Paulin, who sponsored the bill. "Most people will never choose medical aid in dying, but they want the reassurance of having it as a compassionate safeguard that offers comfort even if it is never used."

"It would still transform physicians into facilitators of suicide"

The measure has opposition. 

"We are extraordinarily troubled by Governor Hochul's announcement that she will sign the egregious bill passed by the legislature earlier this year sanctioning physician-assisted suicide in New York State. This new law signals our government's abandonment of its most vulnerable citizens, telling people who are sick or disabled that suicide in their case is not only acceptable, but is encouraged by our elected leaders," the New York State Catholic Conference said in a statement. "Tragically, this new law will seriously undermine all of the anti-suicide and mental health care investments Governor Hochul has made through her tenure. How can any society have credibility to tell young people or people with depression that suicide is never the answer, while at the same time telling elderly and sick people that it is a compassionate choice to be celebrated?"

"The New York Alliance Against Assisted Suicide unequivocally opposes this legislation and urges the Governor to reverse course. This bill is fundamentally flawed and must be rejected in its entirety," the group said in a  statement. "Even with changes, this legislation would still single out disabled and terminally ill New Yorkers for radically different treatment than other individuals experiencing suicidal ideation. It would still transform physicians into facilitators of suicide. It would still undermine medical transparency by requiring false reporting on death certificates. And it would still abandon the state's responsibility to protect people at their most vulnerable moments."

"New York should be investing in palliative care, mental health services, suicide prevention, and support for patients and families — not authorizing the state to facilitate suicide. Assisted suicide must be vetoed. No amendments are acceptable," the statement went on to say.