Delaware bill defines assisted suicide as a palliative care option

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The assisted suicide lobby has instituted a new direction by redefining assisted suicide as palliative care. This has long been a talking point for assisted suicide advocates but now they are attempting to change the legal definition of palliative care.

Assisted suicide laws give physicians, or others (New Mexico bill) the right in law to assist the suicide of their patients.

The Delaware assisted suicide bill follows the new suicide by physician game plan by redefining palliative care to include assisted suicide. The bill states:

WHEREAS, the integration of medical aid in dying into the standard for end-of-life care has improved quality of services by providing an additional palliative care option to terminally ill individuals.

The World Health Organization definition of palliative care states:

palliative care intends neither to hasten or postpone death;

The assisted suicide lobby and the Delaware assisted suicide bill intend to change the meaning of palliative care.

The Delaware assisted suicide bill negates physicians conscience rights by forcing the physician to refer patients for assisted suicide. The bill states:

(c) An attending physician’s failure to inform an individual with a terminal illness who requests additional information about available end-of-life treatments, including medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner, or failure to refer the individual to another physician who can provide the information, is considered a failure to obtain informed consent for subsequent medical treatment.

There are more egregious parts of this assisted suicide bill but this article focuses on the assisted suicide lobbies intention to change palliative care to include assisted suicide and to force physicians to participate in the act of suicide by physician.