August 5, 2024: This article has been updated to clarify that the Delaware legislative session is not considered adjourned until election day. Therefore, Gov. Carney will have 10 days to veto the assisted suicide legislation upon receiving it (he has not yet received it) or it will automatically take effect.
(Oregon Right to Life) — A leader in the movement against euthanasia is rallying pro-life advocates from around the country to encourage Delaware’s Democratic governor to veto a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide in the state. The first state to legalize assisted suicide was Oregon in 1997.
The bill, HB 140, narrowly passed the Delaware senate last month in an 11–10 vote. If signed into law, it would make physician-assisted suicide legal for patients with a terminal diagnosis.
“Everyone needs to contact Governor John Carney and urge him to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140,” Alex Schadenberg, co-founder and executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, said in a July 23 blog post.
A prominent advocate for the medically-vulnerable, Schadenberg recently participated in a panel discussion and hosted a workshop about physician-assisted suicide at Oregon Right to Life’s annual “Together We Advocate” pro-life conference in Tualatin.
READ: Oregon Right to Life’s Together We Advocate Conference
In his Tuesday blog post, Schadenberg pointed to a July 5 report for WHYY News that stated that the bill had not yet been sent to Gov. Carney for a signature.
Carney’s lack of a final decision concerning HB 140 to date appears to mean there’s time for Carney to veto the law.
Schadenberg has combatted claims that the bill had already automatically taken effect, arguing that Delaware’s rules would entail the opposite: the bill would actually be subject to a “pocket veto” if the governor chooses not to sign it within 30 days (excluding Sundays) after the session adjourns.
But the situation is more complicated.
Jessica Rodgers, Coalition Director for the Patients Rights Advocacy Fund, told Oregon Right to Life via email that “the pocket veto (that is, the Governor has 30 days to sign a bill or it is automatically vetoed) goes into effect if [Gov. Carney] received the bill less than 10 days until the legislature adjourned.”
“However, while the session is over, it is not considered adjourned in DE until the election day. That means that unless Governor Carney receives the bill in late October (ten days or less before the election) then the normal rules are in place,” Rodgers explained.
“The normal rules state that once the governor receives the bill (he has not yet received it) he has ten days to sign it (excluding Sundays) or it will become law, with or without his signature,” she said.
In his post, Schadenberg referred to recent reporting suggesting that Carney has concerns about the legislation and has tasked lawyers with looking over the bill’s implications.
Schadenberg is urging pro-life advocates to call Gov. Carney at 302-744-4101 or send him an email at john.carney@delaware.gov encouraging him to veto HB 140.
If signed into law, HB 140 would make it legal for individuals in Delaware to receive a prescription for death-inducing drugs if they have been diagnosed with a terminal illness and have a prognosis of six months or less to live.
The language of the legislation contains safeguards meant to protect against forced euthanasia or medically-induced death for people suffering from mental disorders or non-terminal illnesses. However, opponents argue that the safeguards are not sufficient to prevent abuses.
RELATED: Hospital Negligence Leads Paralyzed Canadian Man to Choose Assisted Suicide
“I don’t claim to know the future, but I do know the past and the history of state assisted suicide laws and I have no reason to believe that Delaware law would not be exploited as-is and reformed to remove safeguards and otherwise increase eligibility and access to death on demand,” bioethicist Dr. Jacqueline Harvey Abernathy, Ph.D., M.S.S.W. wrote in a letter to Gov. Carney that was published in an earlier post on Schadenberg’s blog.
“HB 140 presents immediate harm to your constituents and only stands to grow more dangerous with time,” she warned.
Delaware would be the eleventh U.S. state to make assisted suicide legal if Gov. Carney approves the measure. Presently, 10 states and Washington, D.C. have already legalized the practice.
Oregon was the first state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. The “Death With Dignity Act” (DWDA) took effect in 1997. Since the passage of Oregon’s DWDA, a total of 4,274 people have been prescribed lethal drugs and at least 2,847 people have died after consuming them, a recent Oregon Health Authority report states.
You are welcome to send Gov. Carney an email in your own words or copy and paste the sample email provided below.
Dear Gov. Carney,
If signed into law, HB 140 would make physician-assisted suicide legal for patients with a terminal diagnosis who have been given a prognosis of six months or less to live.
Bioethicist Dr. Jacqueline Harvey Abernathy, Ph.D., M.S.S.W., has warned you of the likelihood that this law would “be exploited as-is and reformed to remove safeguards and otherwise increase eligibility and access to death on demand.”
“HB 140 presents immediate harm to your constituents and only stands to grow more dangerous with time,” she said.
As a resident of Oregon (the first state in the nation to legalize physician-assisted suicide), I know the devastating impact these laws have in the states where they are implemented.
Governor Carney, please take a stand against the devaluation of human life and veto HB 140.
Sincerely, [YOUR NAME].
Sources:
- House Bill 140
- Contact Delaware Governor John Carney to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140
- Legislation legalizing medical-aid-in-dying in Delaware awaits governor’s action
- Delaware Governor Carney needs to veto assisted suicide Bill HB 140 to protect your citizens most in need of real care and compassion, not killing.
