A recent Spectrum News 1 article examined differing views surrounding New York’s new Medical Aid in Dying Act, which takes effect Aug. 5. The law allows terminally ill adults who are expected to have less than six months to live to request medication that would aid in ending their lives, while incorporating what state leaders describe as safeguards designed to prevent misuse.

The story explored concerns raised by religious organizations and advocacy groups, as well as arguments from supporters who view the legislation as expanding end-of-life choice. Among the experts featured was Gareth Fisher, associate professor and chair of the Department of Religion in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Fisher provided perspective on how Buddhist traditions generally understand suffering, death and rebirth. While noting that Buddhist views are not monolithic, he explained that a traditional Buddhist approach emphasizes confronting and understanding suffering rather than attempting to escape it through ending one’s life.

Read the Spectrum News article.

Fisher has also recently written for The Conversation, explaining what Falun Gong is and why the Chinese Communist Party has sought to suppress the spiritual movement. Drawing on his fieldwork among Falun Gong practitioners in the early 2000s, Fisher examined the group's origins, its core principles of truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance, and how it has continued to organize resistance to Chinese government rule in the decades since Beijing banned the practice.

Read the article in The Conversation.