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I am overjoyed to share that the governor has held firm on his convictions and vetoed HB 140. His entire statement is worth reading but this excerpt a poignant, powerful declaration in favor of protecting vulnerable human life:
"I still don’t believe a firm consensus has been reached on what is a very difficult issue- in Delaware or nationally. Last year, the American Medical Association reaffirmed its view that physician-assisted suicide is “fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer.” And although I understand not everyone shares my views, I am fundamentally and morally opposed to state law enabling someone, even under tragic and painful circumstances, to take their own life."
Please join me in offering our utmost thanks to John Carney for being an advocate for non-violent alternatives to assisted suicide.
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On Friday, September 13, Delaware assisted suicide bill HB 140 finally landed on Governor John Carney Jr.’s desk. If he doesn't veto it, it becomes law after 10 days. The governor has expressed misgivings and I implored him to follow his conscience in an open letter I sent when this bill initially passed shortly before the legislative session adjourned at the end of May, but there was no bill to veto until now. The bill sits awaiting a signature or a veto. We must demand the latter and rally others to join our cause.
We must bombard the governor with our opposition to killing humans in their darkest hour by every vehicle necessary: email, phone calls, social media posts. While passionate pleas like mine were worth the effort to inform and engage life advocates to speak out against SB 140, the clock is now ticking. Strategically, our time is better spent mobilizing an outcry with protest messages, calls, and as much grassroots fervor that we can muster. Fortunately, our allies have made it fast, easy, and efficient to send a pre-written message directly to the governor, as well as share this tool on a host of platforms via embedded links. My name and contact information were auto-filled into each field by my browser, and this works on both a desktop and mobile device:
This is a numbers game. In my experience, there are legislative aides who are simply tallying the sum of those who contact the governor in support of assisted suicide and those opposed. We must not let calls and support go answered where the governor believes he has a mandate to allow SB 140 to become law. It does not matter if you are a Delaware resident. Although that is helpful, all voices are efficacious here. Those who will be contacting the governor urging him to sign the bill are not all residents themselves either. The goal is to inundate the governor's office with an overwhelmingly negative response to inspire reservations about allowing legal euthanasia in Delaware. Our voices embolden the risky decision to unilaterally reject this law despite lawmaker support, or convince him that the public will is that he protect those lives that assisted suicide threatens by granting our wish to veto.
It takes less than a minute to speak out in defense of the vulnerable. It takes as little time to also share the link so others may do the same. Please join our fight. Killing is not healthcare.
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