Compassion & Choices comprises two organizations that improve care and expand options at life’s end: Compassion & Choices educates, empowers, defends and advocates; the Compassion & Choices Action Network focuses exclusively on legislation, ballot campaigns and limited electoral work.
The Delaware Senate’s Executive Committee on Wednesday passed The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Act (House Bill 140). This marks the second time the bill has been passed by the committee, the first being less than a year ago, in June 2024.
HB 140, which has a record-high 18 sponsors and co-sponsors, next moves to the Senate floor, which will be its final stop in the General Assembly before, if passed, it is sent to Gov. Matt Meyer. Gov. Meyer publicly stated that he will sign the bill into law after former Gov. John Carney’s September 2024 veto disregarding the bill’s historic first passage by the Delaware General Assembly.
“We are grateful to the committee for rightfully respecting the will of 72% of Delaware voters by passing this bill again, thanks in large part to the hard work of Sen. Bryan Townsend (D-Newark/Glasgow), HB 140’s lead Senate sponsor,” said Heather Pope, Delaware campaign manager for the Compassion & Choices Action Network.
“Advocates like Ron Silverio, Heather Block, Tom LaFollette, Chuck Knothe and, as of March, Diane Kraus have spent their final years, months and days fighting for the option of medical aid in dying. They have traveled to legislative hearings, participated in media interviews and attended meetings with lawmakers, while actively undergoing grueling treatments, some even the same day they received chemotherapy. We urge the Senate to please honor their sacrifices by passing the Delaware End of Life Options Act as soon as possible and, in doing so, allow dying Delawareans who want this option to spend their precious time living.”
The hearing was characterized by spirited, passionate public testimony, as those familiar with the 10 years of debate have likely come to expect. Former Rep. Paul Baumbach, who was the lead sponsor of the End of Life Options Act for many years, testified in support of the bill before the committee, reminding them of advocates Ron Silverio and Heather Block.
“In their final months of life, Heather and Ron came to Legislative Hall to plead for passage of this bill. They pleaded for their right to work with their medical professionals, for the right to select whether their cancer would have the last word over them or if they would have the last word over their cancer,” Baumbach said. “Terminal diseases and terminal prognoses are uncomfortable — that cannot be avoided. However, uncontrolled suffering can be avoided.”
A fixture in support for the End of Life Options Act is Judy Govatos, a Wilmington resident with incurable lymphoma. Since 2018, while enduring treatment for her cancer, Govatos has been fighting for the option of medical aid in dying, expressing her hope for a gentle end when that time comes. She shared with the committee that, two weeks ago, she found out that her cancer had returned.
“At 80, I am seeking a peaceful death, not a prolonged period of unnecessary suffering,” Govatos testified. “Quite actually, this bill is a matter of life and death for me, for you and for all Delawareans.”
The End of Life Options Act would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults in Delaware the option to request and self-ingest prescription medication to peacefully end their lives. The bill features numerous safeguards, including a requirement that two health care providers certify that a person requesting medical aid in dying has a prognosis of six months or less to live and makes it a crime to coerce a terminally ill person into using this end-of-life option.
In a 2020 poll, nearly 3 out of 4 Delaware voters (72%), including 77% of Wilmington voters, 70% of New Castle County voters, 71% of Kent County voters, 69% of Sussex County voters, 72% of Democratic voters, 75% of independent voters and 67% of Republican voters, support medical aid-in-dying legislation.
A 2022 survey found that nearly 3 out of 4 Delaware physicians (74%) support medical-aid-in-dying legislation, and 70% said they would want the option for themselves, if necessary.
Medical aid in dying is authorized in 10 states and Washington, D.C., representing more than 1 out of 5 U.S. residents (22%). Oregon was the first state to implement the medical practice, over 25 years ago.
For information about medical aid in dying, visit compassionandchoices.org/resource/frequently-asked-questions.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
