Delaware Legalizes Assisted Suicide After Protracted Legal Battle

Democrat Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed a bill into law Tuesday that legalizes assisted suicide in the state.

The law allows terminally ill patients “to request and self-administer medication to end the individual’s life” with the approval of two medical professionals. Delaware has been weighing similar legislation since 2015, but previous iterations of the bill failed to gain the necessary support required to become state law.

“This signing today is about relieving suffering 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 the most,” Meyer said at the signing, according to Delaware Public Media. “For many of you — many more than me — this has been a long journey. For nearly a decade this idea has been debated and delayed, but always defended by those of you who believed deeply that it was the right thing to do, and it’s because of you that we’re here today and because of that courage I will be signing that bill.”

The bill passed the House 21-17 and 11-8 in the Senate.

The law describes the act as “humane and dignified,” though opponents of assisted suicide object to the practice on moral and religious grounds, in addition to concerns that patients considering assisted suicide could be ripe for coercion. A patient who wants to go through with an assisted suicide is required to make two verbal and one written request before the life-ending drug can be prescribed under the law’s terms.

Former Democrat Delaware Gov. John Carney vetoed