Why should Delaware care? For a decade, Delaware lawmakers have debated bills to legalize medical aid in dying. Last year’s version was vetoed by former-Gov. John Carney. But now the legislation is back on the table. Supporters argue it empowers individuals to make deeply personal choices in their final moments. Critics warn it raises serious ethical, medical, and legal concerns.
A decadelong campaign to change Delaware’s law to give terminally ill people an option of taking prescription drugs to end their life is nearing the finish line.
The law change, currently represented as House Bill 140, passed out of its legislative committee last month and now appears likely to pass both houses of the legislature. If it does, it would proceed to Gov. Matt Meyer, who has said he would sign it into law.
The developments come just months after former-Gov. John Carney vetoed a nearly identical medical-aid-in-dying bill, saying in a statement that he was “morally opposed” to it. That bill had previously passed the Delaware Senate by a narrow 11 to 10 margin.
Carney issued the veto in September shortly after securing a primary election victory to become the Democratic candidate to run for mayor of Wilmington.
In December, Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Glasgow) brought the measure back by sponsoring SB 140. The full House of Representatives is scheduled to consider it next month.
The bill specifically would allow those diagnosed with a terminal illness, and given six months or less to live, an option to take medication that would end their life.
Morrison – who has advocated for the policy for eight years, as an activist and later as a legislator – says that over 70% of people in Delaware support it.
“I believe that terminally ill individuals should have the choice to end their lives in a dignified manner and avoid unnecessary suffering,” he said in a written statement to Spotlight Delaware.
The conversation around physician-assisted death started in 2015 when former-Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-Newark) proposed the first bill. That legislation failed, but Baumbach sponsored four subsequent iterations in later years.
None garnered enough votes to be successful. But legislative sentiment appeared to have shifted last year when his bill passed the House comfortably, and then the Senate by a 1-vote margin.
Now, Morrison says he is optimistic about the passage of the latest bill, noting it has support from Meyer and from new lawmakers, such as Rep. Melanie Ross Levin (D-Brandywine Hundred), Rep. Mara Gorman (D-Newark), Rep. Claire Synder-Hall (D-Rehoboth Beach) and Rep. Frank Burns (D-Newark).
Morrison’s bill also has 17 sponsors and co-sponsors. Last month, it cleared the House Health & Human Development Committee committee with nine votes in favor.
Rhett Ruggerio, lobbyist and founding president of Ruggerio Willson & Associates, previously lobbied for the bill on behalf of the Medical Society of Delaware. He notes that since the bill passed both chambers last year and has the governor’s support this year, he expects it to pass.
Governor Matt Meyer has also been vocal about his support and says he will sign it once it’s sent to his desk.
“Every Delawarean deserves the right to make deeply personal decisions about their life, including end-of-life care choices, free from government interference,” Meyer said in written statement sent to Spotlight Delaware.
Provisions of the bill
The current bill – named the Ron Silverio/Heather Block end-of-life options law – would let terminally ill adults request life-ending medication that they would administer themselves.
To be approved, healthcare providers must confirm the person’s diagnosis and prognosis, and confirm that they are able to make informed decisions for themselves.
Those requesting the medication must be Delaware residents, and physicians approving those requests must be licensed in Delaware.
A patient must make two verbal requests at least 15 days apart, then submit a written request to an attending physician or advanced nurse. A prescription can then be written 48 hours later.
Morrison says that patients can also opt out of taking the medication at any time.
Doctors and hospitals also are able to opt out of the program, and those who agree to participate would not be subject to civil or criminal liability for assisting in the death.
The Delaware Healthcare Association and the Medical Society of Delaware have remained neutral on the bill. But the Delaware Nurses Association supports it, according to Christopher Otto, executive director of the association.
The on-going debate
Although the bill is expected to pass, there still has been a robust debate.
During a Jan. 29 committee meeting, Morrison told the story of his own mother, who had died five years earlier from lung cancer that had spread to her brain.
“Had end-of-life options been in place as mom declined over the last few months of her life, would she have chosen to take advantage of it? I don’t know, but what I do know is she believed that she should have had the choice,” he said.
Morrison also invited Dr. Diana Barnard, a Vermont healthcare professional who specializes in hospice And palliative care, to testify in favor of the bill. In that testimony, Barnard said modern medicine allows people with advanced illnesses to live longer, but that often comes with increased suffering. As a result, providers need to explore alternative approaches to patient care, she said.
“In Vermont, where medical aid in dying has been legal for 11 years, the health department has testified that we have not had a single complaint,” she said during the meeting.
Currently, 11 states authorize physician-assisted death. No state has repealed the law, although New Jersey proposed a bill to do so.
Delaware legislators in opposition to the measure have presents several critical questions. Those include how accurately doctors can predict a patient’s life expectancy; why there isn’t required training for doctors who choose to participate; and why a psychiatrist isn’t required to assess a patient’s decision-making capacity unless dictated by a physician?
They also pointed out that there’s no legal requirement for someone to take the medication in front of another person — though it is recommended in the bill.
Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown), who raised some of these concerns during last month’s meeting, brought in an expert, Dr. Neil Kaye, who spoke against the bill.
Kaye, a forensic psychiatrist and past president of the Psychiatric Society of Delaware, said the medical profession shouldn’t be involved in assisted deaths because doctors are not trained to conduct the procedures.
“Helping people to kill themselves should not ever be part of a treatment plan,” he said.
He said doctors accurately predict a six-month prognosis less than a third of the time. He also medication used in states that have the law frequently changes, indicating uncertainty among providers about which is most effective.
He also warned that the state could face legal battles for discriminating against people by having a residency requirement, which occurred in Oregon in 2022.
According to Kaye, no members of the Psychiatric Society of Delaware would be willing to conduct evaluations because it would be dishonest without clear guidelines or training.
During public comment at the meeting, eight people spoke against the legislation, claiming there was a possibility for abuse, coercion and misdiagnosis in the administration of the drugs.
But others pleaded with legislators to vote for the bill, and shared personal stories about watching their loved ones suffer during their final days.
“The truth is, no one in this room today knows … what choices they will make when they’re actually facing death, especially a dehumanizing, painful and crippling one,” said Linda Gould, a death doula from Newark.
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