Home Our Diocese ACTION ALERT for Delaware voters: Physician-assisted suicide HB140 back on docket for...

ACTION ALERT for Delaware voters: Physician-assisted suicide HB140 back on docket for state lawmakers — Reach them here

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A person is pictured in a file photo holding a sign against physician-assisted suicide. The California Department of Public Health's "End of Life Option Act 2022 Data Report," released in July 2023, shows there has been a 63% increase in requests for life-ending drugs, with 853 eventual deaths, since the state relaxed its physician-assisted death rules in 2021. (OSV News photo/Kevin J. Parks, Catholic Review)

ACTION ALERT!  HB 140, the bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide in Delaware, will
be heard in the House Health & Human Development Committee
on Wednesday, January 29 at 11:30 a.m.! 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 Oregona report available on their legislature’s
    website stated 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, complications from a fall,
    hernia, sclerosis, and stenosis.”

You can play an important role in protecting the vulnerable. This legislation
passed last session by a margin of only one (1) vote in each House! Fortunately,
then-Governor John Carney exercised a principled veto!  The measure has been
reintroduced this year.  And Governor Matt Meyer states that he will support it.

 

Call or email the members of the House Health & Human Development Committee
to urge them to oppose this bill and to vote “no” on the release of HB 140:

 

Nnamdi Chukwuoacha*(chair) (302)744-4351 nnamdi.chukwuocha@delaware.gov
DeShanna Neal * (vice-   chair) (302)744-4351 deshanna.neal@delaware.gov
Claire Snyder-Hall (302)744-4351 claire.snyder-hall@delaware.gov
Kerri Evelyn Harris (302)744-4351 kerrievelyn.harris@delaware.gov
Debra Heffernan (302)744-4351 debra.heffernan@delaware.gov
Kendra  Johnson (302)744-4351 kendra.johnson@delaware.gov
Eric Morrison (302)744-4351 eric.morrison@delaware.gov
Melanie Ross-Levin (302)744-4351 melanie.rosslevin@delaware.gov
Kamela  Smith (302)744-4351 kamela.smith@delaware.gov
Claire Snyder-Hall (302)744-4351 claire.snyder-hall@delaware.gov
Valerie Jones Giltner (302)744-4171 Valerie.JonesGiltner@delaware.gov
Kevin  Hensley (302)744-4171 kevin.hensley@delaware.gov
Jeff  Hilovsky (302) 744-4079 jeff.hilovsky@delaware.gov
Charles  Postles (302)744-4171 charles.postles@delaware.gov
Bryan Shupe (302)744-4171 bryan.shupe@delaware.gov
Michael Smith (302)744-4171 michael.f.smith@delaware.gov

Or click the link below to send a customizable email to your House Representative.

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