Delaware lawmakers consider assisted suicide bill for second time

Months after Delaware Governor John Carney vetoed a bill that would legalize assisted suicide, lawmakers are once again considering legislation that would allow a terminally ill person to end their own life.

House Bill 140 would allow assisted suicide for a terminally ill person if that person first makes two verbal requests and one written request. The terminal diagnosis and the requests must be approved by two physicians or advanced practice registered nurses. Such “safeguards” are almost always in place when assisted suicide laws are first enacted, but, as has happened elsewhere, they are often repealed or loosened within a number of years.

Rep. Valerie Jones-Giltner raised concerns about the idea that a doctor can predict a person’s life expectancy, arguing that she has personally heard stories of many people who were given a terminal diagnosis, only to live much longer than expected.

“I have received a plethora of emails against this, so I’m not just taking my personal clinician opinion and my faith-based opinion, but I’m taking that of all of my constituents in this,” Jones-Giltner said.

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Dr. Neil Kaye, a former forensic psychiatrist, testified that many medical professionals are uncomfortable with the idea of helping a patient end his or her life.

“Even most physicians who support the idea refuse to engage in this process,” Kaye said. “Helping people to kill themselves should never be a part of a treatment plan. I don’t want you to think I’m just against people doing this — I’m against the medical profession doing it.”

Last year, legalized assisted suicide was all but considered a done deal after legislation passed both the Delaware House and Senate. However, Carney, a Democrat, surprised many when he decided to veto the bill, calling it a “deeply personal issue” to which he was “fundamentally opposed.” According to Delaware Public Media, the state’s new Governor, Matt Meyer, has said he would sign a bill if it makes it to his desk.

The bill survived the House Health and Human Development Committee last week and now heads to the full House floor for debate.