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Acclaimed artist Jackie Ferrara has passed away at the age of 95 after choosing to end her life through medical aid in dying.
Ferrara — whose celebrated wooden sculptures are part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection — died on Wednesday, October 22, according to her estate and legacy adviser, Tina Hejtmanek.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Ferrara revealed that although she was in “good health,” she felt ready to go. She had experienced two falls in the past year, which reinforced her desire not to become dependent on others.
“I don’t want a housekeeper,” she said. “I never wanted anybody. I was married three times. That’s enough.”
While medical aid in dying (MAID) is not legal in New York, where Ferrara lived, several U.S. states — including California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Montana, Vermont, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, and Washington, D.C. — have legalized the practice. However, eligibility in those states is limited to terminally ill patients.
Because Ferrara was in good health, she could not qualify under U.S. law. She therefore traveled to Basel, Switzerland, where she ended her life at Pegasos, a nonprofit assisted-dying organization that does not require patients to be terminally ill.
Medical aid in dying has been legal in Switzerland since 1942, according to Dignity in Dying, a British organization. The practice differs from euthanasia, which remains illegal, in that patients self-administer prescribed life-ending medication rather than having it given by a doctor.
