Not Dead Yet is proud to join Sean Curran and five other organizational plaintiffs
(Delaware ADAPT, Freedom Center for Independent Living, United Spinal Association,
National Council on Independent Living, Institute for Patients’ Rights) in a lawsuit
against health agencies in Delaware and their use of the End of Life Options Act
(EOLOA). Not Dead Yet opposes assisted suicide laws as blatantly discriminatory and
extremely dangerous. These laws treat disabled lives as not worth living and people
with disabilities as better off dead. It’s time the citizens of Delaware fought back.
Our lawsuit argues that implementation of Delaware’s assisted suicide law violates the
Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Delaware health agencies do so by applying EOLOA and steering patients with certain
kinds of disabilities (namely, terminal illnesses) away from suicide prevention services
and towards assisted suicide. For example, health agencies fail to apply stringent
standards for suicide prevention in Delaware to patients with terminal illnesses and
instead – by offering them EOLOA – direct these patients to end their own lives. The
Americans with Disabilities Act and Rehabilitation Act are clear that this impermissibly
treats individuals differently solely on the basis of disability.
As the lawsuit explains, Delaware’s assisted suicide system effectively creates a “two-
track system” of care – one track for people with life-threatening disabilities and one
track for people without these disabilities. This two-track system is further entrenched by
a failure to pay for appropriate long-term care and palliative care services for all citizens
of Delaware. People who have been newly diagnosed with a life-threatening or
significant illness often struggle to make sense of their lives post-diagnosis, at least at
first. They also struggle to pay for the supports and services that will help them live
good lives. Insurance may in fact cover assisted suicide but not support services. In this
context, patients do not have a true “free choice” between living on and assisted
suicide.
We urge Delaware direct its resources to improve the lives of people with disabilities
instead of ending them. Delaware could, instead of advancing early death, advance
comprehensive palliative care coordination and improved access to payment programs
such as Medicare and Medicaid. Without these assurances and an end to assisted
suicide, we have no choice but to fight back in court. We unite today to fight for disabled
lives and disabled futures.
In Solidarity,
Kelly Israel
Interim Deputy Director
Not Dead Yet