The Delaware Senate Tuesday approved House-passed legislation to allow terminally ill adults in Delaware the option to obtain prescription medication they can decide to take if their suffering becomes unbearable so they can die peacefully. The Senate voted 11-10 to pass the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End of Life Options Act (HB140), following the House’s passage of the bill in a bipartisan 21-16 vote in April.
Wilmington resident Judy Govatos
“I cannot express how much I appreciate the Senate and House passing this compassionate legislation after working for six years to persuade lawmakers to support it,” said terminally ill Wilmington resident Judy Govatos. “I am pleading with Gov. Carney to sign the bill, as every other Democratic governor has done in states where medical aid-in-dying legislation has passed, including several Catholic governors like him. I have had cancer twice in the last 10 years. At age 80, my time is running out, and without this law I am facing a prolonged period of needless suffering when I die.”
The Delaware End of Life Options Act has the most sponsors and cosponsors (17) since its original bill introduction in 2015, including all members of Democratic legislative leadership. 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.
Millsboro resident Diane Kraus
“I am dying of metastatic stage 4 breast cancer, so I am deeply grateful to the senators and state representatives who voted to pass this bill,” said terminally ill Millsboro resident Diane Kraus, who worked for 35 years as an occupational therapist, and 23 years in homecare and home hospice. “I watched my mother die in agony from metastatic breast cancer. I urge Gov. Carney to sign this bill into law so I can avoid the intense pain I am likely to suffer from my bone and brain tumors at the end of my life, and I can die peacefully.”
The Delaware End of Life Options Act, sponsored by retiring Rep. Paul Baumbach (D-Newark), is named in honor of two bill advocates, Dover resident Ron Silverio and Lewes resident Heather Block, who died of cancer in 2018 with needless suffering because they did not have the option of medical aid in dying.
“I urge Gov. Carney to honor the courageous advocacy of Ron Silverio, Heather Block, and the existing pleas of terminally ill constituents like Judy Govatos and Diane Kraus who simply desire this time-tested option so that they can die peacefully on their own terms,” said Kim Callinan, president and CEO of Compassion & Choices Action Network, which led the campaign to pass the bill. “Even if this is not an end-of-life care option that Gov. Carney would choose for himself, the data shows that as drafted, this bill harms nobody; I hope he will respect the wishes of the overwhelming majority of Delaware voters and physicians who support this legislation and allow the Delaware End of Life Option Act to become law.”
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.
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 suffering. 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.
Medical aid in dying is authorized in 10 states and Washington, D.C., representing more than one out of five U.S. residents (22%). There are no documented cases of abuse or coercion involving medical aid in dying since Oregon became 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
About Compassion & Choices/Compassion & Choices Action Network
Compassion & Choices comprises two organizations that improve care and expand options at life’s end: Compassion & Choices (501(c)(3)) educates, empowers, defends, and advocates; the Compassion & Choices Action Network (501(c)(4)) focuses exclusively on legislation, ballot campaigns, and limited electoral work. CompassionAndChoices.org/Delaware
Paid for by Compassion & Choices Action Network.
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