CV NEWS FEED// The Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware, published a statement opposing state legislation that would permit medically assisted suicide.
The bill, HB 140, allows doctors to administer lethal medication to terminally ill patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live, according to Delaware news agency WBOC. The decision must be approved by two doctors and a psychologist. The bill passed in the Democrat-led Senate on Tuesday in an 11-10 vote. It awaits Gov. John Carney’s signature.
The Diocese of Wilmington called on local Catholics and all people of goodwill to contact Carney “and ask him to stand up for the elderly, sick and disabled, by vetoing this dangerous and immoral legislation.”
The statement also asked Catholics and all religious people to pray that he vetoes the bill.
The statement argues against the evil of assisted suicide on the grounds of faith and reason, noting that Catholics believe in the sacredness of human life, thus the protection of life from conception to natural death, but also emphasizing that: “all people of good will should recognize that this bill encourages the most vulnerable (e.g., the aged, the dependent, those with disabilities) and those who need our care the most to see themselves as merely a burden for their loved ones and unduly influence a decision to end their life.”
The assisted suicide bill is one of many anti-life laws recently passed by the Delaware Senate.
As CatholicVote previously reported, on Tuesday, the Senate also passed a bill mandating insurance coverage for abortions. There are several other pro-abortion bills pending action.
The Diocese of Wilmington serves the entire state of Delaware and the east coast of Maryland, according to its website. The bishop is Most Reverend William E. Koenig, D.D.
