How a Delaware bill would give terminally ill patients end-of-life options
A bill granting terminally ill people the right to choose “the manner and timing” of their death passed the Delaware House on Thursday and now heads to the state Senate for consideration.
Commonly called “death with dignity” or “physician-assisted dying,” House Bill 140 would allow “mentally capable, terminally ill” adults who have received a “prognosis of six months or less to live” to request and obtain self-ingested medication to end their lives peacefully.
The bill, also called the “Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law” sponsored by state Rep. Paul Baumbach and Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend, is named in honor of two advocates who died without end-of-life options.
The legislation is about allowing adults “facing a terminal illness” to make “their own choices regarding their life and their suffering,” Baumbach said. “Sadly, Ron Silverio and Heather Block died without the option of medical aid in dying, something they both came to Dover to advocate for during their dying days.”
If passed, Delaware would be the 11th state nationwide to enact an end-of-life provision, joining states like New Jersey and Vermont as well as Washington, D.C., according to Death with Dignity, an organization that advocates for end-of-life policy reform. The First State is among 12 states considering death with dignity legislation this year.
A 2020 poll found that 72% of Delaware voters surveyed supported legislation that would give terminally ill patients with decision-making capacity the right to take medication to end their own lives.
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Heather Pope, senior Northeast campaign organizer for Compassion and Choices, applauded the bill’s passage out of the Delaware House.
“Terminally ill Delawareans deserve this option, which is proven through years of experience in other states, like neighboring New Jersey, to be safe and work as intended,” she said in a news release. “Medical aid in dying is a compassionate way to give dying people control over their final moments.”
What does the bill do?
Delaware lawmakers said the bill includes several safeguards to ensure the patient’s “preferences, needs and values are honored and guide all clinical decisions.”
Under House Bill 140:
The “attending” qualified provider is required to inform patients requesting medical aid in dying that they can change their mind at any time.
The “attending” qualified provider is required to offer an opportunity to rescind the request.
The “consulting” provider must confirm a terminal diagnosis, prognosis of six months or less to live as well as the patient’s ability to make informed health care decisions before providing a prescription.
If either the attending or consulting provider suspects the patient has any condition impairing their ability to make sound decisions on their health care, the patient must go through additional mental health evaluations.
The terminally ill patient needs to submit a written request for the medical aid, which is witnessed by at least two people who can attest that the person is “capable, acting voluntarily, and not being coerced or unduly influenced.”
The latter provision is similar to witness requirements for advance directives, lawmakers said. One of the two witnesses for the written attestation cannot be a family member or person who stands to inherit “any portion of the terminally ill individual’s estate.”
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Under the bill, advanced age, disability, mental illness and chronic health conditions would not be qualifying factors for medical aid in dying.
Ron Silverio’s wife, Susan Lahaie, said the day her husband found out he had “incurable cancer” he wanted to know his end-of-life options.
“He was not as worried about dying as he was about getting there and the very real possibility of being in uncontrollable pain in the final days of his life. Ron said if I didn’t have to worry about how he would die, he could focus more on living,” Lahaie said, adding that he advocated for this legislation right until his death six years ago. “I believe as humans we have a moral obligation to prevent suffering that is needless.”
Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: End-of-life bill approved by Delaware House heads to Senate
