The Delaware House of Representatives today passed the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End-of-Life Options Act (HB 140) in a floor vote of 21-17. This marks the second time the bill has been passed by the House in the decade since it was originally introduced, the first being less than a year ago in April 2024. HB 140, which has a record-high 18 sponsors and cosponsors, next moves to the Senate for its consideration. 

“We are incredibly grateful for lead sponsor Rep. Eric Morrison, who worked tirelessly to get HB 140 through the House again after Paul Baumbach, the dedicated lead sponsor for many years, retired in 2024,” said Heather Pope, Delaware campaign manager for Compassion & Choices Action Network. “Twenty-one supportive House representatives rightfully chose to grant the wishes of their terminally ill constituents today. We urge the Senate to follow their lead and listen to the 72% of Delaware voters who support this option. It’s time to bring a full range of end-of-life care options to Delaware by authorizing medical aid in dying in 2025.”

Notably, Rep. Eric Morrison, who was recently named as one of Delaware’s most influential people in healthcare in 2025 as a result of his work on HB 140, shared his personal connection to the option of medical aid in dying with his colleagues. His mother, who died with lung cancer a little over five years ago, may not have agreed with him on many political matters, he said, but they talked about the importance of end-of-life options together and she supported the option of medical aid in dying. 

“I think part of that belief came from the fact that she retired after 32 years working as a registrations nurse at Nanticoke Memorial Hospital in Seaford. And during those many years, she had seen first-hand the horrible and unnecessary suffering that can accompany someone’s final days and months,” Rep. Morrison shared. “Passing this Act is the right and compassionate thing to do.”

Governor Matt Meyer campaigned on his support of medical aid in dying in 2024 and has publicly pledged to pass the End-of-Life Options Act if it comes across his desk. 

“Everyone deserves the right to a compassionate and humane end to life’s journey when faced with a terminal illness,” he said on Facebook after former Governor John Carney’s September veto disregarding the bill’s historic passage by the Delaware General Assembly. “I stand with those who support medical autonomy and the right to die with dignity and, if elected, will make this law. We must continue together to champion policies that respect the personal freedoms of all Delawareans.“

Those familiar with the end-of-life rights movement know the price of continued debate and inaction on medical aid-in-dying legislation. Ron Silverio of Dover and Heather Block of Lewes, the two terminally ill advocates who the Delaware End-of-Life Options Act is named after, gave their final months of life fighting for the compassionate option to be authorized in Delaware. They died only months apart from each other, Silverio in January 2018 and Block in March 2018. 

Tom LaFollette, a Wilmington man with terminal cancer who advocated alongside Silverio and Block, died in November 2020. In September 2024, Chuck Knothe, also of Wilmington, spent the last week of his life sharing his dying wish for medical aid in dying, but died with esophageal cancer only days before the bill was vetoed after months of inaction by former Gov. Carney. His daughter, Lynn Knothe, joined the debate in January when she testified before the House Health & Human Development Committee sharing her father’s story.

And since that time, Millsboro’s Diane Kraus, who advocated for the option to be authorized in both Delaware and Maryland since 2021, died from metastatic breast cancer in early March. Kraus was a passionate and dedicated advocate in both states, testifying in numerous legislative hearings, participating in media interviews, and even co-writing an open letter to former Governor Carney urging him to pass HB 140. 

The Delaware End of Life Options Act would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults in Delaware the option to request and self-ingest prescription medication to peacefully end their lives. The bill features numerous safeguards, including a requirement that two healthcare providers certify that a person requesting medical aid in dying has a prognosis of six months or less to live, and makes it a crime to coerce a terminally ill person into using this end-of-life option.

In a 2020 poll, nearly three out of four Delaware voters (72%), including 77% of Wilmington voters, 70% of New Castle County voters, 71% of Kent County voters, 69% of Sussex County voters, 72% of Democratic voters, 75% of Independent voters and 67% of Republican voters, support medical aid-in-dying legislation in Delaware.

A 2022 survey found that nearly three out of four Delaware physicians (74%) support medical-aid-in-dying legislation and 70% said they would want the option of medical aid in dying for themselves, if necessary.

Medical aid in dying is authorized in 10 states and Washington, D.C., representing more than one out of five U.S. residents (22%). Oregon was the first state to implement the medical practice over 25 years ago in 1997.

For more information and frequently asked questions about medical aid in dying, visit: compassionandchoices.org/resource/frequently-asked-questions

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