If the euthanasia movement has its way, Illinois may be ringing in the New Year with physician assisted suicide legalized in the state.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois, the public policy voice of the Illinois bishops and Catholic faithful, expects proponents to try to push through Senate Bill 3499 to legalize assisted suicide during the General Assembly’s Lame Duck session that runs Jan. 2 through Jan. 7, 2025.
The basic teaching of the Catholic Church is that “the deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his or her life is always morally wrong; it can never be a licit means to a good end” (USCCB, Faithful for Life: A Moral Reflection, 1995).
Bishop Malloy in his column on page 2 of this newspaper shares more on the pastoral teachings of the Church and why as Catholics we must take the courageous stance against legalization of assisted suicide.
We must stand against the mindset that prioritizes unlimited personal choice and autonomy against fidelity to our faith and the truth of our interdependence.
“The euthanasia movement has convinced many patients that their only ‘escape’ from the pain and indignities of illness and over-treatment is a medically assisted suicide,” the U.S. bishops wrote in “Faithful for Life.” This movement “knows nothing of the Christian understanding of compassion, of ‘suffering with’ our loved ones and alleviating their fears as they confront the shadows at the end of life. … It chooses instead to convince the patient that he or she is the problem — a problem solved only by his or her extinction.”
What can we do?
Before the start of the lame duck session on Jan. 2, 2025, write to your state legislators to oppose the bill to legalize assisted suicide in Illinois (Senate Bill 4399). Your voice is needed! Visit this page on the Catholic Conference of Illinois’ website for a sample letter that can be sent directly to these officials based on your home address: http://www.ilcatholic.org/take-action/action-center/
Beginning on Dec. 29, 2024, the Feast of the Holy Family, pray the John Paul II Novena for Life and for the intention of the defeat of SB 3499. You will end the 9-day novena on Jan. 7, the last day of the General Assembly’s Lame Duck session. In the novena each day, we pray, through the intercession of Pope St. John Paul II, “for the defeat of the assisted suicide bill and that the infinite worth of each human person is upheld through proper investment in palliative care.” The text of this prayer can be found on our diocesan website here: http://www.ilcatholic.org/take-action/action-center/
Sign up for action alerts and monthly updates on life and dignity issues from the Life and Family Evangelization Office.
We send these out via Flocknote and will keep you updated on this legislation. To receive these Flocknotes, text LIFEDIGNITY to 84576.
Finally, encourage your family and friends to oppose SB 3499 by posting about the issue on social media. Graphics are available to download for your social media postings at the diocesan website listed above.
As “Faithful for Life” says: “That any sick person may be convinced that his or her ‘assisted suicide’ is the responsible, perhaps even expected, solution for a painful illness is an indictment against a society with too little love for some of its most vulnerable members. The sick and the elderly may be required to defend their lives at the very moment in which they are the weakest.”
Physician assisted suicide is suicide.
Call or text the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 for free, 24/7, confidential help if you are in distress or if you need resources for you or your loved ones.
