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Barbara Barrie Dies Under New York Medical Aid in Dying

By Drooid · Oct 29, 2026 · How we work

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Summary

Barbara Barrie chose medically assisted death in Manhattan after a terminal cancer diagnosis on Oct. 28, 2026.
Her daughter Jane Harnick confirmed to The New York Times the death followed New York’s Medical Aid in Dying law.
Barrie had been a longtime advocate of New York’s Medical Aid in Dying law.
She previously disclosed idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2014 and rectal cancer in 1994.

History

In November 1994 Oregon voters approved Measure 16, making Oregon the first U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. After a 1997 injunction was lifted following the Supreme Court’s Washington v. Glucksberg ruling, the law led to 3,243 reported deaths by 2024 and inspired similar statutes in Washington (2008) and New York (2021) and sparked a national debate.

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In November 1994 Oregon voters approved Measure 16, making Oregon the first U.S. state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. After a 1997 injunction was lifted following the Supreme Court’s Washington v. Glucksberg ruling, the law led to 3,243 reported deaths by 2024 and inspired similar statutes in Washington (2008) and New York (2021) and sparked a national debate.

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