Delaware Legalizes Medical Aid in Dying
ProCon Debate: Should Medical Aid in Dying Be Legal?
ProCon Issue in the News: On May 20, 2025, Delaware became the 12th U.S. jurisdiction to legalize medical aid in dying (MAID), also called death with dignity, physician-assisted suicide, and assisted suicide.
Gov. Matt Meyer stated, “We’re acknowledging today that even in the last moments of life, compassion matters.” This “is about relieving suffering,” he continued, “and giving families the comfort of knowing that their loved one was able to pass on their own terms without unnecessary pain and surrounded by the people they love most.”
Msgr. Steven P. Hurley of Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Wilmington opposes the law: “Too often our older folks feel like they are a burden to their families given their need for increasing care in some situations. How many of us have heard an elderly family member or parishioner say, ‘I don’t want to be a burden.’ A real fear is that [physician-assisted suicide] will give these vulnerable adults an avenue to an untimely and needless death. I was just reading that the age group with the most proportional suicides is those 85 and over.”
The law (HB 140: The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Act) adheres to the template set by Washington, D.C., and states with legal MAID. Life-ending medication will be available only to adult Delaware residents who have been diagnosed with a terminal illness that will lead to death within six months. A second physician or advanced practice registered nurse must confirm the diagnosis. The patient must be mentally competent and make two oral requests and one written request to a physician licensed in Delaware.
Twelve U.S. jurisdictions have legalized MAID: California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington state, and Washington, D.C. Each has its own laws, though most follow the template above. Montana, however, does not have a MAID protocol in place because the practice was legalized via court order instead of legislation.
Discussion Questions
- Should MAID be legal? Why or why not?
- Should MAID be available to people with mental illnesses or other nonterminal illnesses? Explain your answer.
- Should euthanasia be legal for those who would choose MAID but who may be paralyzed or otherwise unable to self-administer the fatal medication? Explain your answer.
Sources
- Compassion & Choices, “Delaware Gov. Signs Widely-Supported Medical Aid-in-Dying Bill into Law in Public Ceremony After Decade of Advocacy Led by Compassion & Choices” (May 20, 2025), compassionandchoices.org
- Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, “Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill Signed by Delaware Governor.” (accessed May 29, 2025), cdow.org
- Landon Mion, “Delaware’s Assisted Suicide Bill Signed into Law, Making It the 11th State with Such a Statute” (May 21, 2025), nypost.com