ACTION NEEDED TO GET THE BILL ON
MEDICAL AID IN DYING / END OF LIFE OPTIONS
PASSED IN THE SENATE

Last Thursday, HB140, the Ron Silverio / Heather Block End of Life Options bill, was defeated with a 9 yay to 9 nay vote in the Senate. However…

ALL IS NOT LOST! There is still a chance to get this bill through the Senate and onto the Governor’s desk. It may hinge on the decision Sen. Kyra Hoffner makes when the bill is voted on again this week. Although Kyra is listed as a co-sponsor of the bill, she opted not to vote on Thursday, leaving the bill one vote short of passage. When questioned about her decision, she explained that she’d heard from many of her constituents with a disability who are very opposed to HB140.

We would like for Kyra, who - prior to her election - was an LWVDE member and active in the Advocacy Corps, to hear from her League sisters and brothers (and if you are one of her constituents and/or disabled, let her know).

We are asking our members to take TWO ACTIONS as soon as possible:

1.  REACH OUT to Sen. Hoffner (Kyra.Hoffner [at] delaware.gov or on Facebook) to urge her to support HB140.  [See the supportive information below.]
2.  THANK all of the Senators who voted in favor of HB140; we need their vote again this week. Senators Gay, Hansen, Huxtable, Lockman, Paradee, Pinkney, McBride, Sokola, Sturgeon and Townsend deserve our thanks. Contact information is provided at the end of this Alert.

In 2020, Compassion and Choices conducted a poll and discovered that 72% of Delaware’s residents support this legislation; only 20% oppose it. Their 2022 survey of Delaware physicians showed that 66.7% “somewhat or strongly supported” it, 19.7% somewhat or strongly opposed, and 13.6% neither supported nor opposed it.

Addressing concerns of some members of the disability community

With respect to concerns of some members of the disability community, HB 140 has the following safeguards: 1) two physicians or advanced practice nurses (APRNs) must confirm that an individual who is voluntarily seeking medical aid in dying (MAiD) has a terminal illness, with a prognosis of 6 months or less to live; 2) the individual must request the treatment themselves and be able to self-administer it.  There are many other safeguards in the bill, carefully crafted to ensure the option is available only to those who truly want it. All of the safeguards pertain equally to individuals with or without disabilities.

Many people living with a disability support MAiD legislation as much, or more, than those without a disability. In a 2023 national poll, 79% of U.S. residents who self-identified as having a disability agreed that “medical aid in dying (MAID) should be legal for terminally ill, mentally capable adults who choose to self-ingest medication to die peacefully.”

“I think those who have a terminal illness and are in great pain should have the right to choose to end their lives and those that help them should be free from prosecution.” – Stephen Hawking, (1942 – 2018), Renowned Cosmologist and theoretical physicist, who lived with Lou Gehrig’s disease.

“Based on my 23 years of clinical practice, as a person with a disability, and as an individual whose family members have experienced very difficult end-of-life challenges, I am in strong support of authorizing medical aid in dying.”  – Dr. Seth Morgan, Board-Certified fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, leader for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, and chair of Montgomery County’s Commission on People with Disabilities.

In summary, the overwhelming support for MAiD among Delaware’s residents and physicians, and nationally among members of the disability community, demonstrates that it deserves the support of our elected representatives.

Thank you in advance for taking action… let’s finally get this bill into law!

Judy Butler, League Chairperson, Health Care Issues
Linda Barnett, Advocacy Corps Chairperson

Contact information to thank the Senators who voted in favor of HB140: