Carney added that like lawmakers, he’ll look at it from various angles.

“I think every member looks at it from their own perspective in terms of their moral compass, in terms of their religious background in terms of their own personal experience,” he said. “I think everybody has that both personal perspective, which comes from kind of their moral compass, and their experience, and that’s the approach I’ll take.”

If Carney vetoes the legislation, it’s not clear if the legislature would have the votes to override the veto. The bill did not pass with veto-proof majorities. Lawmakers would need 3/5ths of each chamber to vote yes to overturn a veto.

The legislation is called the Ron Silverio/Heather Block Delaware End-of-Life Options Act, named in honor of two advocates of the legislation.

Supporters say it includes a number of safeguards, including ensuring patients are self-administering the medication, moral objection opt-outs for medical providers, waiting periods and mandatory mental health evaluations. Two doctors would be required to certify that the patient is mentally capable, making an informed decision and is acting voluntarily.

Democratic Sen. Stephanie Hansen, of Middletown, who supported the bill in the Senate, talked about her father enduring amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, which leaves people unable to eat, breathe or move.

“Every day after he got to a particular point, he would say to my mother ‘Sara Lee, please take the pistol out of the nightstand that we keep next to our bed and shoot me. This needs to be over,’” Hansen said. “Every single day.”

A number of groups representing the disability community have opposed the legislation. They said they are concerned disabled people could be manipulated to end their lives, instead of receiving what could be expensive medical care.

If it becomes law, Delaware would be the 11th state nationwide to enact an end-of-life provision, joining other states like New Jersey, Vermont and Oregon.

Delaware State Police continue to investigate a shooting that occurred at the Big Chill Surf Cantina parking lot in Rehoboth. Through investigative means, detectives identified the suspect responsible for the shooting as 28-year-old Jonathan Blackwell of Milford, Delaware and obtained a warrant for his arrest for several felony offenses.

On June 30, 2024, Blackwell was taken into custody in Pennsylvania. Upon extradition to Delaware, he will be charged with the following crimes:

• Assault 1^st Degree (Felony)
• Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (Felony)
• Carrying a Concealed Deadly Weapon – Firearm (Felony)

The Delaware State Police Troop 4 Criminal Investigations Unit continues to investigate this incident. Detectives are asking anyone who has information regarding this incident to contact Detective J. Hill at 302-752-3792. Information may also be provided by sending a Private Facebook Message to the Delaware State Police, by contacting Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333, or via the internet at www.delawarecrimestoppers.com.

If you or someone you know is a victim or witness of a crime or have lost a loved one to a sudden death and need assistance, the Delaware State Police Victim Services Unit / Delaware Victim Center is available to offer you support and resources 24 hours a day through a toll-free hotline at 1-800-VICTIM-1 (1-800-842-8461). You may also email the Victim Services Unit at DSP_VictimServicesMail@delaware.gov.

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100 Years Ago, 1924: When officers handling fireworks, seized under instructions of Mayor S.E. Turner, were storing them in a cell last night, one of the packages containing several dozen boxes of torpedoes dropped to the floor and exploded. Prisoners were greatly excited as the torpedoes let go, and the corridors of the cell room began to fill with acrid smoke. There were shouts of “let us out” heard from men locked up. For a time it was feared more fireworks would go off and the officers hurriedly moved them from the cell into the corridor. Windows were lowered and the smoke soon cleared.

75 Years Ago, 1949: Bumper-to-bumper traffic lined highways through Chester on Friday night and again this morning as the big 4th of July race to the shore, the mountains, Shangri La … anywhere but home … began for thousands of travelers. Second of the three-day holidays of 1949, this Independence Day will see more cars on the road than at any time in the postwar period, according to traffic engineers of Keystone Automobile Club. Pennsylvania Railroad officials have placed 48 additional trains into service over a five-day period starting Friday to take care of “near-peak” train travel. Louis Kapelski, manager of Chester-Bridgeport Ferry Co., says he has geared his four-ferry service to handle 1,000 cars an hour during the holiday.

50 Years Ago, 1974: Delaware County motorists will find plenty of gasoline for the July 4 holiday period, but users of one brand will be paying four cents a gallon more. “The supply of gasoline is plentiful,” said James Breslin of Media, a director of the Pennsylvania Service Station Dealers Association. While plenty of gas was reported available, Gulf Oil Co. Monday announced a four cents across-the-board price hike.

25 Years Ago, 1999: By tonight, Newtown Township will have a brand new road — and fewer traffic woes, it’s hoped. The Winding Way Bypass, linking Route 252 to West Chester Pike across a 22-acre portion of the SAP America Inc. property, is scheduled to be open to traffic tomorrow morning.

10 Years Ago, 2014: Chichester School Board passed the 2014-15 final budget totaling nearly $68.7 million in expenditures. The budget includes a 1 percent property tax increase, raising the school district’s millage rate to 39.0708 mills. Last month’s preliminary version of the budget had proposed a 2 percent tax increase. The predicted increase is due to rising health care costs, an increase in pension payments owed to the Public School Employees’ Retirement System, and an increase in charter and cybercharter school enrollments.

— COLIN AINSWORTH