ACTION ALERT! HB 140 that legalizes assisted suicide in Delaware being considered in the State Senate.
Efforts on the part of the Catholic community, other faith groups, medical professionals, Saint Francis Hospital, advocates for persons with disabilities, and others, kept this legislation from becoming law in past legislative sessions. We need to do so again. You can play an important role by contacting your State Senator and urging them to oppose this bill and to vote “no” should it come before the Senate. Use the link below to send an email to your State Representative.
Our opposition is rooted in the Church’s belief in the sanctity of life from conception to natural death and the dignity of the individual, both of which are objective and non-negotiable truths and principles of our faith.
In addition to our well-founded, faith-based concerns, there are a number of other concerns to consider:
- House Bill 140 would fundamentally change Delaware’s legal approach to medical ethics, medical practice, and health care decision-making.
- The Psychiatric Society of Delaware, the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians also oppose involving practitioners of the healing arts in the intentional ending of a person’s life by medically assisted suicide, also known as medical aid in dying.
- In Colorado, patients who suffered from Anorexia Nervosa, which is a mental illness, not a terminal illness if treated, were provided access to physician-assisted suicide.
- In Oregon, a report available on their legislature’s website stated that that “any patient is eligible for assisted suicide as long as their condition will reasonably lead to death in the absence of any medical intervention.” The report goes on to say that “The latest Death with Dignity Act Summary confirms this interpretation as it includes cases of patients qualifying for assisted suicide due to typically non-terminal diseases including arthritis, complications from a fall, hernia, sclerosis, and stenosis.”
- In Canada, the nation most like ours in the world, patients need no longer be terminally ill as a matter of law. Additionally, mental illness has become legally permitted as the sole underlying condition for those seeking physician-assisted suicide.
You can get more information about the dangers of physician assisted suicide at www.cdow.org/stopassistedsuicide.
Please contact your State Senator today and urge to reject Physician Assisted Suicide. The Senator who represents the City of Wilmington is Elizabeth Lockman.