Delaware: Another Defeated, Dangerous Assisted Suicide Bill Reaches Governor’s Desk

Contact Delaware Gov. Carney and Demand He Veto HB 140 Assisted Suicide

Jacqueline Abernathy

By Dr Jacqueline Abernathy

On Friday, September 13, Delaware assisted suicide bill HB 140 finally landed on Governor John Carney's desk. It has been nearly 3 months since HB 140 died in the state senate only to rise again immediately after and pass by a single vote, just shy of meeting a second, irreversible demise when the clock ran out and the 2024 Delaware legislative session adjourned sine die. The eleventh-hour passage and session end caused immense confusion on whether or not HB 140 would become law within 10 days of arrival in the governor's office, that is with or without the governor's signature. Governor Carney had expressed his misgivings indicating a reluctance to sign the bill, so we have held out hope. Without a veto, assisted suicide will become legal (by default) early next week.

This may sound familiar to my anti-euthanasia allies because this is not the first time a presumed dead assisted suicide bill was shockingly revived and sent to the governor's desk for a signature months after it initially failed. In 2015 California Assembly where a similar assisted suicide bill SB 128 was soundly defeated that summer only to reemerge two months later as ABX2-15. The session had ended, along with it the prospect of SB 128 passing, but when Governor Jerry Brown called a special session dedicated to transportation, the same assisted suicide proposal was inappropriately reintroduced under its new name and new rules where it could bypass the full legislative process (committee action and floor votes of both chambers), scrutiny that had destroyed the first attempt. ABX2-15 was a last-ditch effort in the suicide lobby's relentless crusade to impose assisted suicide on Californians who fought off their advances for 23 years. Even attempts to completely bypass voters failed when they lost not one, but two court cases within a few weeks after the first session ended. Unable to exploit the judiciary to legislate from the bench (a failed strategy in other court cases in California since 1992 as well), they resorted to circumventing the legitimate legislative process hoping that the ninth, not the third time would be the charm with the new bill. Sadly, it worked, and nine years ago today I was writing an open letter to then-Governor Jerry Brown and rallying allies to demand a veto, just as I am doing now.

That effort failed, but we still have hope that Delaware will escape this same fate. When we lost in California, we had just defeated HB 150, an assisted suicide bill sponsored by the same representative as HB 140, who needed nearly a decade to advance to the same juncture. We kept this scourge at bay session after session. In fact, it took two sessions to finally, narrowly pass HB 140 just like it took two sessions to pass the California assembly. The parallels between California and Delaware are striking. Because our utmost activism did not prevail in California in strikingly similar circumstances, there is a temptation to despair that this same outcome may happen now. That is until we consider this a second chance to redouble our resolve and protect vulnerable lives in Delaware. Since 2015, we now have the benefit of nearly a decade more of experience, expertise, and mobilization. 

Governor John Carney

Whereas I was sharing the Governor's email address to cut and paste and drafting sample language for individuals to use, we now have a pre-populated email that can be auto-filled with each advocate's name and address and then sent instantly. There are embedded buttons that allow for easy sharing across a host of social media platforms. It could not be more efficient or easy to speak up for those in danger and spread the word to other advocates on a variety of platforms where this call to action will be seen by audiences that were previously harder to reach. This is a numbers game, as in my experience there are legislative aides who are simply tallying the sum of those who contact the governor in support of assisted suicide and those opposed. We must not let calls and support go unanswered where the governor could believe he has a mandate to allow HB 140 to become law.

This is a rematch of sorts, an opportunity to show how much stronger we are now than we were 9 years ago. The euthanasia lobby is stronger also, so we must give this our greatest effort. I am seizing this moment and it only takes a mere moment to contribute. I implore you to join the fight. Visit the link, speak for the weak, and share everywhere you can. The sum of these small efforts is what can save countless lives at risk in Delaware.