General Assembly passes End of Life Options bill

The Senate passed the End of Life Options bill April 17 with a similar margin as last session, but this time with an assurance that the governor will sign it.

“Lightning struck twice – after a momentous and bittersweet session in 2024, we are incredibly grateful for the hard work by lawmakers, advocates and volunteers which got this bill across the finish line again,” said Heather Pope, Delaware campaign manager for Compassion & Choices Action Network, in a press release. “The Senate’s vote today is not only for the Delaware End-of-Life Options Act, but also a vote in support of all Delawareans having access to a full range of end-of-life options that align with their values and beliefs. We were encouraged by Governor Meyer’s commitment last year to sign medical aid-in-dying legislation into law and hope he takes action on HB 140 soon.”

The Senate vote was 11-8 with two absent. Two amendments were defeated – one to require a psychiatrist or psychologist evaluation to confirm decision-making capacity, and another to provide a report to the Division of Professional Regulation regarding a medical professional’s compliance with the bill.

Last session's final vote was a tight 11-10, but the bill was later vetoed by Gov. John Carney, and no further action was taken since a two-thirds vote to override was unattainable.

Earlier this session, the House passed the bill March 18 by a 21-17 vote with three absent. Gov. Matt Meyer has previously said he supports the bill, and with his signing, Delaware would join 10 states and Washington, D.C., in offering medical aid in dying.

The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Bill, sponsored by Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, copies the work of former Rep. Paul Baumbach, who worked on the issue for years.

In 2015, Baumbach first introduced the Death with Dignity Act, which never made it out of committee. In 2017, Baumbach’s End of Life Options Act never made it to the House floor for a vote. He introduced House Bill 140 at the end of the legislative session in 2021, but the bill had no movement in 2022. It moved out of committee in May 2023, but sat dormant until April 2024, when the House passed it 21-16 with four absent.

Block was a Lewes resident who lobbied for the bill after she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, which took her life in 2018.