Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer, a Democrat, signed a bill Tuesday that legalizes physician-assisted suicide by thinking that some terminally ill patients committed suicide, believing the measure is about "sympathy, dignity and respect for individual choices."
The Life Options Act, which will take effect next year, allows the mental diagnosis of terminally ill adults and survive within six months or less to require prescriptions to self-manage and end their lives.
“We recognize today that compassion is important even in the last moments of life,” Meyer said in the bill signing. “Every Delaware should have the right to face the last chapter with peace, dignity and control.”
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Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed a bill to legalize doctor-assisted suicide for some terminally ill patients. (Governor Matt Meyer/Facebook)
He continued: “Today’s signing is about alleviating suffering and making the family comfortable knowing that their loved ones can pass on their own terms without pain and being surrounded by those they love the most.”
Currently, Delaware is the 11th state to allow medical assistance, joining California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Vermont and Washington. In Washington, D.C., physicians are also allowed to assist in suicide.
"Today, Delaware joins more and more states, recognizing that the decision to end life belongs to patients, not politicians," Meyer said. "This law is about compassion, dignity and respect. It has left people in the face of unimaginable people with the ability to choose peace and comfort, surrounded by those they love. After years of debate, I am honored to have signed HB 140 into law."
The "Selective Act of Termination of Life" will take effect next year. (Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
Several other countries, including Canada, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, have also legalized so-called deaths with dignified deaths.
The Delaware Legislature reluctantly rejected the measure last year, but Meyer pushed it at this session and adopted it last month. The Governor's signature now ends the nearly decade of debate on the issue.
Under new laws sponsored by Democratic State Rep. Eric Morrison, patients who commit suicide must provide other options for end-of-life care, including comfort care, palliative care, hospice care and pain control. The bill requires two waiting periods, and a second medical advice on the patient’s prognosis before a prescription for a deadly drug is obtained.
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Currently, Delaware is the 11th state to allow medical assistance to die. (Getty Image)
Democrat State Senate Majority Leader Bryan Townsend said the law “is to respect the autonomy and humanity of those who face the ultimate illness that is unimaginable.”
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"Due to the courage of patients, family members and advocates, these legislation exists to share the courage of profound personal stories about love, loss and suffering," he said in a statement.