Delaware Governor Matt Meyer, a Democrat, signed a bill this week legalizing assisted suicide.
The law, called “The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law,” says a “terminally ill adult individual who has decision-making capacity has the right to request and self-administer medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner.”
“An individual should not be coerced, pressured, or otherwise compelled to take medication to end their life and the decision to self-administer medication to end life must be made voluntarily by a terminally ill adult individual with decision-making capacity, not by a guardian or other surrogate health-care decision maker or by the individual in an advance health-care directive,” the law reads, further noting that health care providers “should not be subject to civil or criminal liability or professional discipline for honoring a request from a terminally ill adult individual for medication to end their life in a humane and dignified manner that is made in compliance with the requirements of this chapter.”
Meyer said upon signing the legislation, as per Delaware Public Media, that the bill 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.”
“For many of you — many more than me — this has been a long journey,” he said. “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.”
Delaware now joins California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and Washington, D.C., in permitting the practice.
The law takes effect on January 1, 2026.
