Ellen Barrosse [pictured left] is the retired CEO of Synchrogenix Information Strategies, a global pharmaceutical services company founded in Delaware.
As the Delaware legislature debates House Bill 140, a measure to legalize physician-assisted suicide, the discussion typically centers on individual autonomy and end-of-life dignity. However, emerging research reveals troubling and unintended consequences: The legalization of assisted suicide is associated with increases in non-assisted suicide rates across the general population — a phenomenon known as “suicide contagion.”
At a time when Delaware and the nation are experiencing record-high suicide rates, with it ranking as the second-leading cause of death for Americans aged 1-44, research from the Southern Medical Journal on U.S. states that have legalized assisted suicide shows an increase of up to 3.3 additional non-assisted suicide deaths per 100,000 residents. For Delaware, this translates to approximately 34 additional lives lost each year. The numbers may not be the same here. Instead of 34, maybe, in Delaware, only 15-20 additional non-assisted suicides will occur. We cannot know the exact number. But, based on study after study, we know the number won’t be zero.
These aren’t just statistics — they represent our neighbors, colleagues and loved ones. Some of these individuals are young people with decades of potential ahead of them, their lives cut short not by terminal illnesses but by choices made in moments of despair.
