Assisted suicide bill advances in Delaware, as opponents warn it’ll target ‘most vulnerable citizens’

Delaware is one step closer to legalizing assisted suicide after the state’s House advanced legislation last week to allow terminally ill patients to obtain lethal drugs.

House Bill 140 would enable the patients – who must also be adults and residents of Delaware – to “request and self-administer medication to end the individual’s life.”

It’s the second time since 2024 that assisted suicide legislation has advanced from the House, but the earlier effort was squashed by then-Gov. John Carney. Delaware’s new governor, Matt Meyer, has expressed support for the effort to legalize assisted suicide.

“Everyone deserves the right to a compassionate and humane end to life’s journey when faced with a terminal illness,” he has said. During his campaign, Meyer promised he supported “the right to die with dignity” and promised he would “make this law.” 

Assisted suicide advocates in the state, such as Compassion & Choices, have expressed optimism about the legislation advancing, arguing it’s a way to bring a “full range of end-of life care” options to residents. 

The effort has received staunch opposition from religious groups, however, who fear the legislation could target vulnerable groups, especially those with disabilities and mental illnesses.  

The bill “would put the lives of our most vulnerable citizens at risk,” Catholic Diocese of Wilmington Robert Krebs told The Lion.  

“We are disappointed that assisted suicide legislation has passed the Delaware House,” he noted, adding the diocese recently delivered more than 11,000 postcards to state representatives from Delaware Catholics who oppose assisted suicide. 

“We will continue to urge our elected leaders to do the right thing and protect the sick, elderly and those with mental illness.” 

Other opponents of assisted suicide have long pointed to similar concerns, arguing that killing a patient, even a terminally ill one, violates the Hippocratic Oath and is incompatible with a doctor’s role as a healer. It endangers the “weak and marginalized in society,” one Heritage Foundation report noted, as safeguards are often “watered down or eliminated over time.”  

It also corrupts the entire medical profession by “permitting the tools of healing to be used as techniques for killing,” the report argued, noting it also could distort longstanding trust between doctors and their patients.  

It also could “provide perverse incentives for insurance providers and the public and private financing of health care,” according to Heritage. “Physician-assisted suicide offers a cheap, quick fix in a world of increasingly scarce health care resources.” 

Assisted suicide is currently legal in 10 states and Washington, D.C., and is actively being considered by lawmakers in more than a dozen states, according to a tracker for Death With Dignity, a group that advocates for its legalization.