Press Release: Proposed Delaware Bill Seeks to Legalize Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia

Attorney Margaret Dore, President of Choice is an Illusion, which has fought against assisted suicide and euthanasia legalization throughout the United States, and internationally, has issued the following statement regarding House Bill 140, now pending in the Delaware General Assembly, seeking to legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, on both a voluntary and involuntary basis. The Act, deceptively titled End of Life Options, refers to these practices as medical aid in dying.

“Aid in Dying has been a euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since at least 1992," said Dore. “Per the American Medical Association, ‘physician-assisted suicide’ occurs when a doctor facilitates a patient’s death by providing the means or information to enable a patient to perform the life-ending act. ‘Euthanasia’ is the administration of a lethal agent by another person.”

Legal Memorandum: Euthanasia Act Must Be Rejected

By Margaret Dore, Esq.

 I. INTRODUCTION

The Act, HB 140, seeks to amend Title 16 of the Delaware Code, to thereby create Chapter 25B “Relating to End of Life Options.” If enacted, the Act will legalize physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia as those terms are traditionally defined. This will be on both a voluntary and involuntary basis. The Act terms these practices medical aid in dying.

Aid in dying has been a euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia since at least 1992.[1] The proposed Act is based on similar acts in Oregon and Washington State. Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act went into effect in 1997. Washington’s nearly identical act went into effect in 2009.  

All three acts apply to persons with a six month or less life expectancy. Such persons may in fact have years or decades to live. A well known example is Jeanette Hall. In 2000, she made a settled decision to use Oregon’s act. Her doctor convinced her to be treated for cancer instead, such that she is alive today, twenty-two years later.