Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signs physician-assisted suicide law, sparking outrage

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Illinois on Friday signed legislation allowing eligible adult patients with terminal illnesses to receive life-ending medications in consultation with their doctors, making Illinois the latest state to allow physician-assisted suicide for people with a prognosis of six months or less.

The law, known as the Medical Assistance in Dying Bill or “DEEP’s Law,” will go into effect in September 2026 to allow for Health care providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) time to implement stringent protective processes and procedures.

Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident who suffers from the rare incurable disease for which the bill is named, said in a statement that she “knows…[s] The end for me could be near. “But I’m glad I was able to play some role in ensuring that terminally ill Illinoisans have access to medical assistance in dying.”

The doctor prepares an injection containing thiopental, a barbiturate used in euthanasia. (Getty Images)

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Pritzker, a Democrat, wrote in a press release that the legislation would help terminal patients “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives” and would be “carefully implemented so that doctors can counsel patients about making deeply personal decisions with authority, independence and compassion.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois praised the new measure, saying terminally ill patients living in Illinois “will no longer have to agonize about spending their remaining days fearful of an agonizing death.”

While Pritzker’s office included a quote from Chicago Episcopal minister the Rev. Judith Doran supporting the law, other groups, including the Illinois Catholic Conference, issued statements opposing any legislation that would legalize medically assisted suicide.

“Supporters argue that this legislation will end suffering at the end of life.” Catholic Bishops of Illinois Written in September statement. “Assisted suicide is not a compassionate solution for those who are suffering. Through palliative care, expanded access to mental health care, and stronger family and community supports, providers and families are finding better ways to accompany these people with compassion that truly brings love and dignity to every human life.”

Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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They added “unintended consequences” of the legislation Assisted suicide They include documented cases of people being denied life-saving medical treatment by insurance companies rather than the much cheaper option of life-ending medications.

“The poor and people with disabilities are particularly vulnerable because they are most vulnerable to such abuses,” the Illinois Catholic Conference wrote. “In response, every major national organization representing people with disabilities opposes medically assisted suicide.”

Patients must take the medication themselves, as legislation makes it a felony to coerce someone into ordering the medication or to falsify an order.

Eligible patients and Receiving medication They have the right to withdraw their application at any time or choose not to accommodate it, according to the statement.

Disability activists from Distant Voices Not Dead hold a demonstration outside Westminster Hall in central London, on April 29, 2024, in protest against proposals to legalize medically assisted suicide in the United Kingdom. (Getty Images)

Death certificates for those who commit physician-assisted suicide under the bill would list the cause of death as an underlying terminal illness.

The Thomas More Association, a national public interest law firm, claimed V.I statement Friday that Illinois had “crossed a moral and legal red line.”

“This is a dark and sad day for Illinois,” Thomas Aulp, executive vice president of the Thomas More Society, wrote in a statement. “When the state signals that some lives are no longer worth living, the most vulnerable people pay the price.” “Instead of offering true compassion, support and care, this law offers a deadly recipe. This is not mercy. It is abandonment.”

In addition to its “serious social and ethical implications,” the law firm noted that the law threatens the conscience rights of doctors who oppose facilitating medically assisted suicide, as well as freedom of association in religious medical institutions.

While doctors, health care providers and pharmacists are not required to participate, the bill would require doctors who object to assisted suicide on moral or religious grounds to refer patients to providers who would participate in ending their lives.

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“The state forces doctors to become active participants and collaborators in a patient’s suicide, regardless of whether their faith, morality, or Hippocratic Oath prevents them from doing so,” Olp wrote. “This is unreasonable coercion, plain and simple. The government should not order any doctor to participate, directly or indirectly, in a process that intentionally ends a human life.”

Beyond the law’s involuntary referral mandate, the law also forces hospitals and religious clinics to keep staff who promote medically assisted death on-site, as long as those staff administer lethal medications off-site.

“This is a Trojan designed to violate and undermine the missions of religious health care institutions,” Olp wrote. “Governor Pritzker’s law on medically assisted suicide threatens safety Catholic and Christian medical institutions At the state level. . . . State law should never endorse the idea that suffering or illness makes life disposable.”

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).