End-of-life options bill signed into law

Tears were mixed with joy May 20, as a bill giving residents an end-of-life option was signed into law, making Delaware the 12th state in the nation to offer the choice.

“It’s a really hard, hard issue. You’re talking about some of the most challenging and hardest moments of life. Moments that none of us ever dream or desire to be in,” said Gov. Matt Meyer before signing the bill. “I understand that there are those across Delaware who will choose not to make the choices that this bill makes available to them, and that’s one of the biggest reasons that I chose to support this, because I think when people start life and when they end life are deeply religious questions … people should be able to make the hard choices that they need to make based on their own faith.”

A similar bill passed both the House and Senate last session, but was vetoed by then-Gov. John Carney, and the bill was unable to get the majority votes needed to override the veto.

Former Rep. Paul Baumbach worked nearly a decade to pass similar bills – the Death with Dignity Act in 2015 that was never released from committee, the End-of-Life Options Act in 2017 that was released from committee but never made it to the House floor for a vote, and finally the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End-of-Life Options Bill that he introduced in 2021 and was finally passed by the House in April 2024 and later the Senate. Block was a Lewes resident who lobbied for the bill after she was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer, which took her life in 2018. Silverio, a stonemason who lived in Dover, died of prostate cancer in 2018. 

Baumbach said he went from not having one legislator sign onto his first bill to a frenzy of legislators who wanted to sponsor the bill that is now law. 

Baumbach thanked Rep. Eric Morrison, D-Glasgow, for sponsoring the bill, and he thanked Block and Silverio for fighting for it while they were alive.

“It seemed like it had been a lifetime, and unfortunately for Heather Block and Ron Silverio, it was a lifetime. For they and so many others have come down to Legislative Hall to tell their stories and beg for support,” Baumbach said. “Unfortunately, Heather’s and Ron’s pleas fell on deaf ears and a cold heart of the past governor, and he vetoed the bill.”

The new law provides guidelines for a terminally ill person to self-administer medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner. That may only be done if a physician or health professional agrees the patient is acting voluntarily and understands their decision. Safeguards in the bill include a requirement that two healthcare providers certify that a patient has a prognosis of six months or less to live, and makes it a crime to coerce a terminally ill person into using medical aid in dying.

Kevin Diaz, interim president and CEO of Compassion & Choices, said his organization has plans for a bilingual outreach program to help eligible individuals understand and access the new option if they choose to do so.