Physician-assisted suicide legislation in Delaware & Maryland

From the Delaware Catholic Advocacy Network (DCAN):

Dear DCAN Advocates,

We are grateful to the many Delaware Catholics who have sent thousands of emails to legislators through the Delaware Catholic Advocacy Network (DCAN) in opposition to assisted-suicide in our state. As you may know, the Delaware House of Representatives and Senate have both passed – by narrow margins – HB 140 that legalizes assisted-suicide in Delaware, and it now awaits the governor’s signature. Governor Meyer is on the record saying that he supports the bill. 

Here are a few next-step suggestions:

• Call, write or email your Delaware State Representative and Senator. If they opposed HB 140, thank them. If they supported it, kindly express your disappointment in their decision not to stand with the sick, elderly and those suffering from mental illness. Click here, then click on the Roll Call PDF to see how your legislators voted.
• Call, write or email Governor Meyer and ask him to please reconsider his position on HB 140. You can send an email here.
• Pray for those in Delaware who are ill, elderly or who otherwise feel unwanted, unloved or a burden to their families or community.  Pray that our loving God will help them see their worth and alleviate their physical and mental suffering. 
• Reach out to those family members, friends and neighbors who may be aged, isolated, sick or disabled. Tell them by words and actions that they are not alone, are not a burden and that God loves them.

Thank you for all that you do to promote a culture of life in Delaware. For information about SB 5 that will codify abortion in the Delaware constitution, click here.

God bless you during this Holy Easter Season and always,

Delaware Catholic Advocacy Network 

In Maryland: Physician assisted suicide: Stopped! This legislation did not come to a vote in either chamber. Thank you for your prayers and support.

We urge all people of good will to demand that our lawmakers reject suicide as an end-of-life option and to choose the better, safer path that involves radical solidarity with those facing the end of their earthly journey. Let us choose the path that models true compassion and dignity to those facing end of life decisions and protects the most vulnerable from the deadly proposition of physician assisted suicide.”  ~Most Reverend William E. Lori, Archbishop of Baltimore, Wilton Cardinal Gregory, Archbishop of Washington and Most Reverend William Koenig, Bishop of Wilmington. A Better Way Forward, January 20

Too often our older folks feel like they are a burden to their families given their need for increasing care in some situations,” Msgr. Steve Hurley recently said.  “How many of us have heard an elderly family member or parishioner say ‘I don’t want to be a burden.’  A real fear is that PAS will give these vulnerable adults an avenue to an untimely and needless death.  I was just reading that the age group with the most proportional suicides is those 85 and over.