Third Circuit weighs quadriplegic man’s challenge of Delaware’s assisted-suicide law

A federal appeals court panel heard a quadriplegic person’s claims that Delaware’s assisted suicide law goes too far legally in allowing the controversial practice, as multiple states across the country have legalized assisted suicide for terminally ill people.

A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit heard the appeal from Sean Curran, a quadriplegic, and a coalition of disability rights groups, which allege that Delaware’s End of Life Options Act, which went into effect earlier this year, discriminates against disabled people. The law authorizes assisted suicide for people with a terminal diagnosis, but Curran’s lawyer argued the law is broad enough that it requires doctors to inform him of end-of-life options during routine treatment for his disability.