DOVER, Del.- Terminally ill patients in Delaware may soon have a new end-of-life option, as the state considers joining 10 others in legalizing medical aid in dying practices.
House Bill 140, also known as the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End of Life Options Act, was introduced in the House on May 2nd.
House and Senate Democrats are backing the bill, while others question its morality.
The legislation is named in honor of two late Delaware advocates for expanded end-of-life options.
The non-profit organization "Compassion and Choices" has been advocating for the passage of this law throughout the country since 1997 when Oregon enacted the Death with Dignity Act.
Campaign Director, Tim Appleton, believes Delawareans deserve the option to end their suffering. "I knew Ron Silverio and I knew Heather Block," he recalled. "They were desperate for more options at end of life that would have been afforded to them if aid in dying had been available to Delawareans back then."
However, State Rep. Rich Collins (R-Millsboro) is critical of the bill. Suggesting the state's finances are having a negative impact in the matter.
"The government is cutting back spending on Medicare drugs and I feel that it's only inevitable, with our aging population, we are going to have more and more folks with serious medical problems that will tempt a cash-short government to do things they should not do," he said.
Delaware is currently dealing with about $10 billion in unfunded liabilities for retiree healthcare.
Rep. Collins said he would rather focus on the value of life.
"Aside from the sheer immorality of the state basically killing people, we have ever-increasing rates of suicide, regular suicide. In my opinion, what we should be doing is trying to find out why people are so hopeless."
Appleton carefully explained how suicide and aid in dying are fundamentally different.
"Suicide is a tragic circumstance of an otherwise physically healthy person cutting their life short in the middle of a mental health crisis," he said.
"Aid in dying is something completely different. We are talking about terminally ill people who have been decided on by 2 physicians, who have less than 6 months to live who are making a mentally capable decision to avoid the worst part of a dying process."
HB 140 passed the House Health & Human Development Committee on May 18th. It will now move onto the full House, where it will be debated and voted on. If the House votes in favor, it will move onto the State Senate for consideration.
If passed, healthcare providers in Delaware could choose whether or not to participate.
