State capitol in Dover, Delaware. / Credit: Jon Bilous/Shutterstock
Baltimore, Md., Feb 4, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
Opponents of assisted suicide in Delaware and the rest of the United States are mobilizing against the reconsideration of a bill in the First State that would legalize so-called “medical aid in dying” (MAID). Opponents warn that the proposed law would “corrupt [the medical] profession by encouraging doctors to be handmaidens to suicide.”
House Bill 140 was narrowly passed by Delaware’s legislature in 2024 but was vetoed by then-Gov. John Carney. However, his successor, Matt Meyer, voiced his support for the bill prior to his election as the state’s new chief executive. The legislation now has its best chance to become law due to the shift in the governor’s office.
Then-candidate Meyer voiced support for the bill on Facebook less than a week after Carney’s veto: “Everyone deserves the right to a compassionate and humane end to life’s journey when faced with a terminal illness. I stand with those who support medical autonomy and the right to die with dignity and, if elected, will make this law.” The Democratic politician repeated his position after taking the oath of office on Jan. 21, saying: “There was a bill that went through the state House and state Senate last year that I do support.”
Three days after Meyer took office, the Diocese of Wilmington posted an “Action Alert” stating: “Our opposition is rooted in the Church’s belief in the sanctity of life and the dignity of the individual, both of which are objective and nonnegotiable truths and principles of our faith.”
The statement added that the legislation, if passed, “would fundamentally change Delaware’s legal approach to medical ethics, medical practice, and health care decision-making.”
In an email to CNA, diocesan spokesman Robert Krebs indicated that the diocese is “disappointed that physician-assisted suicide is once again before the Delaware legislature. … We invite Delawareans to contact their legislators and ask them to protect the most vulnerable in our community.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church condemns euthanasia as “morally unacceptable” (No. 2277). Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s condemnation of the practice in a message to an interfaith symposium on palliative care in May 2024: “I would point out that authentic palliative care is radically different from euthanasia, which is never a source of hope or genuine concern for the sick and dying.”
Last week, both supporters and opponents testified before the House Health and Human Development Committee. Delaware Right to Life president Moira Sheridan participated in the Jan. 26 hearing and warned of the dire consequences that would follow passage: “Just mentioning death as an option, which is required by this law if you have a terminal diagnosis … makes one feel unwanted and is itself a subtle form of coercion.”
Sheridan later decried that committee’s move to squeeze public comments into the final 15 minutes of its two-hour hearing. Fewer than 10 people were able to testify.
The committee cleared H.B. 140 by an 8-1 vote after the hearing. The bill now moves on to consideration by the full House, which will likely approve the legislation. During the last session, the chamber passed it by a mostly partisan 21-16 vote.
Jessica Rodgers of the Patients Rights Action Fund decried the committee’s move, stating that “it is deeply disappointing that committee members chose to ignore disability rights activists and medical professionals who warned them of the dangers we see in states with assisted suicide policy.”
Past failures to legalize ‘medical aid in dying’
Since 2019, Delaware’s General Assembly has considered the controversial legislation four straight times. The measure would allow “a terminally ill individual who is an adult resident of Delaware to request and self-administer medication to end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner” under certain conditions.
Each time, Democratic members of the Delaware General Assembly have introduced the bill without any Republican co-sponsors. Following its approval by the House last year, the state Senate conducted two votes on the proposed law. The chamber deadlocked on the first vote. However, a week later, the Senate passed the bill by the narrowest of margins — 11-10.
The legislation took another two months to reach the governor’s office. Last September, then-outgoing chief executive Carney vetoed H.B. 140. At the time, Carney underscored that he has “consistently opposed a state law that would allow physician-assisted suicide. … I am fundamentally and morally opposed to … enabling someone, even under tragic and painful circumstances, to take their own life.”
Currently, 10 states — California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington — along with the District of Columbia have MAID laws that allow physician-assisted suicide. So far this year, similar bills have been introduced in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire (which, like Delaware, rejected it in 2024), and New York.
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