The Rick Jensen Show Attorney Ted Kittila explains to Rick Jensen why Delaware's Physician Assisted Suicide Bill violates multiple laws.
Dec 10, 2025
Attorney Ted Kittila, a civil rights and constitutional law expert, discusses the legal challenges facing Delaware's Physician Assisted Suicide Bill. He highlights how the law creates a discriminatory two-tier system that stigmatizes disabled individuals. Ted points out troubling real-world coercion cases from other states and elaborates on the law's violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He also raises concerns about the potential expansion of assisted suicide eligibility internationally, particularly for minors, and emphasizes the importance of palliative care over assisted suicide.
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Plaintiff's Personal Impact
- Plaintiff Sean Curran is a 51-year-old quadriplegic who needs daily help and feels devalued by the law.
- Disability groups like Not Dead Yet and United Spinal joined the suit to represent broader disability-rights concerns.
Two-Tiered Discrimination In The Law
- Delaware's law creates a two-tiered system that labels people with life-threatening disabilities as automatically eligible for assisted suicide rather than prevention.
- Ted Kittila argues this facially discriminatory structure violates the ADA, Rehabilitation Act, ACA, and constitutions.
Medical Bias Can Shift Care Options
- Introducing assisted suicide into standard care can shift doctors' recommendations toward death as an option.
- Kittila cites a Harvard study saying over 80% of physicians view life with disability as less worth living, influencing care.