ACTION ALERT! HB 140 to legalize physician-assisted suicide is on Delaware House agenda today — CALL NOW

The following is an urgent message from the Delaware Catholic Advocacy Network.

ACTION ALERT!  HB 140, the bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide, is on the House Agenda today. We need your help! 

Our opposition is rooted in the Church’s belief in the sanctity of life and the dignity of the individual, both of which are objective and non-negotiable truths and principles of our faith. In addition to our well-founded, faith-based concerns, there are a number of other concerns to consider:

• House Bill 140 would fundamentally change Delaware’s legal approach to medical ethics, medical practice and health care decision-making. The Psychiatric Society of Delaware, the American Medical Association and the American College of Physicians also oppose involving practitioners of the healing arts in the intentional ending of a person’s life by medically assisted suicide, also known as medical aid in dying.
• In Colorado, patients who suffered from Anorexia Nervosa, which is a mental illness, not a terminal illness if treated, were provided access to physician-assisted suicide. In Oregon, a report available on their legislature’s website stated that that “any patient is eligible for assisted suicide as long as their condition will reasonably lead to death in the absence of any medical intervention.” The report goes on to say that “The latest Death with Dignity Act Summary confirms this interpretation as it includes cases of patients qualifying for assisted suicide due to typically non-terminal diseases including arthritis, arteritis, complications from a fall, hernia, sclerosis, and stenosis.”

You can play an important role in protecting the vulnerable.  Contact the members of your House of Representative to urge them to oppose this bill and to vote “no” on HB 140.