Delaware
Legal battle begins over Delaware’s medical aid in dying law
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signs medical aid in dying bill into law
Gov. Matt Meyer signed House BIll 140 into law May 20, 2025. The legislation allows terminally ill people to request and receive end-of-life medication.
A coalition of patient and disability advocacy organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Delaware’s medical aid in dying law on Dec. 8 − weeks before it’s slated to go into effect at the start of 2026.
The plaintiffs – including the Freedom Center for Independent Living, Inc., in Middletown and Delaware’s ADAPT chapter – are asking Delaware’s U.S. District Court to declare the law unconstitutional and permanently “block” the state’s enforcement, according to court documents and a press release issued Monday, Dec. 8.
Signed into law this past May, the Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law allows terminally ill patients who have six months or fewer to live the choice to request and receive medication that will “end the individual’s life in a humane and dignified manner,” according to the law’s text.
As written, individuals are unable to qualify for these life-ending medication due to age or disability.
Defendants named in the lawsuit include Gov. Matt Meyer, Delaware’s Department of Health and Social Services and Health Department Secretary Christen Linke Young. The governor’s office declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Supporters have argued having this end-of-life option provides those experiencing terminal illness control and autonomy. But opponents, specifically these plaintiffs, say the law not only violates several state and federal statutes but could still ultimately “single out” residents with disabilities and other vulnerable communities and put them at risk for untimely death as opposed to ensuring connection to necessary care.
“The act devalues people like me,” said plaintiff Sean Curran, a Delaware resident who experienced a serious spinal cord injury over three decades ago and is quadriplegic, in a written statement. “I have led a full life despite my disability. The act tells people like me that they should qualify for suicide help, not suicide prevention.”
Matt Vallière, who serves as president and executive director of the nonprofit Institute for Patients’ Rights, similarly said this law would implement “a separate and unequal system” for individuals with disabilities.
“Our lawsuit is asking the courts to stop this practice so Delaware patients with disabilities won’t be funneled through bias, barriers to care and inequal access to a death-too-soon,” Vallière said in a statement.
“With looming Medicaid cuts and high insurance premiums, as well as Medicare which does not provide community or community-based services, it already feels like our health care system is divided into providing for the haves and neglecting the have nots,” said Daniese McMullin-Powell, a representative of Delaware ADAPT, in the lawsuit. “We do not need exacerbate its brokenness by adding an element where some patients are steered toward suicide.”
The longtime legislative effort was signed by Meyer earlier this spring, having previously vocalized his support for enacting this bill into law. As of now, the law is scheduled to go into effect either when final regulations are finalized and published or on Jan. 1, 2026, whichever happens first.
As of now, the state Health Department is in the process of drafting these regulations, which are expected in the coming weeks.
Olivia Montes covers state government and community impact for Delaware Online/The News Journal. If you have a tip or a story idea, reach out to her at omontes@delawareonline.com.
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
MORE: SEPTA reopens underground concourse connecting Walnut-Locust and City Hall stations
The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
—
Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
-
Lifestyle10 minutes agoWe’re having a main character summer. Are you? : It’s Been a Minute
-
Technology18 minutes agoMicrosoft AI chief Mustafa Suleyman says there are three labs that matter — and he wants Microsoft to be the fourth.
-
World25 minutes agoUS ally Kuwait condemns ‘brutal and ongoing Iranian attacks’ after airport was hit
-
Politics28 minutes agoSpencer Pratt surges to runoff in LA mayor’s race after angry voters send message to Karen Bass
-
Health33 minutes agoOne extra serving of processed meat a day linked to higher cancer risk
-
Sports40 minutes agoAJ Brown trade outcome: Dianna Russini paid a heavy price while Mike Vrabel emerged unscathed
-
Technology43 minutes agoCould your Samsung phone replace your passport?
-
Business48 minutes agoRent-hike ban to protect fire victims ends despite gouging concerns
