SPRINGFIELD—On Dec. 15, Illinois became the 12th state in the nation to legalize euthanasia when Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
In the wee hours of the morning on Halloween, the Illinois Senate passed the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (SB 1950) by the bare minimum of votes (30-27). The Illinois House had approved the bill on May 29 in a 63-42 vote.
The law, which takes effect September 2026, legalizes physician-assisted suicide for adults who have a terminal disease with a prognosis of six months or less to live.
Eleven other states — California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Washington — and the District of Columbia have legalized physician-assisted suicide.
Bishop David Malloy, his diocesan Office of Life and Family Evangelization and the Catholic Conference of Illinois have worked hard in lobbying for Catholics to oppose this legislation and were quick to respond to the new law.
Bishop Malloy, in a statement issued just a few hours after the Governor signed the bill, expressed his extreme disappointment and repeated his earlier sentiments saying “As I said in previous statements, there are many loving alternatives to assisted suicide including increased care for the poor, supporting and promoting programs and care for mental health, increased access to affordable health care and support and access to palliative and hospice services. These services combine the best of medical care with respect for the God-given dignity of those who are suffering or close to death.”
The Catholic Conference of Illinois followed a short time later on Dec. 15 issuing a statement that read in part “Governor Pritzker and legislators who supported this legislation had a choice to build a future in which every person, especially the sick and vulnerable, is cared for with dignity, love, and support — or to open the door to a system where death becomes a permissible alternative. With SB 1950 now law, we must speak even more strongly that true compassion means helping people live, not helping them die.”
In a statement after the signing, Governor Pritzker said the legislation will help patients “avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives” and will be “thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy.”
The Thomas More Society, a nonprofit legal advocacy group, lamented that Illinois politicians have “crossed a profound moral and legal red line” by legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
“This is a dark and sorrowful day for Illinois,” said Thomas Olp, executive vice president at Thomas More Society, in a statement. “Instead of offering true compassion, support, and care, this law offers a fatal prescription. That is not mercy. It is abandonment.”
The organization warned the new law threatens physicians who are morally opposed to facilitating an assisted suicide. The bill “requires physicians who object to assisted suicide on moral or religious grounds to refer patients to providers who will participate in ending their lives.”
This “compelled-referral mandate” is “unconscionable coercion, plain and simple,” Olp emphasized. “No doctor should be ordered by the government to participate directly or indirectly in a process that deliberately ends a human life.”
Furthermore, the law forces “religious hospitals and clinics to retain staff who promote assisted deaths on-site, as long as those staff provide lethal drugs off-site.”
OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford issued a statement to local media saying it will not participate in any physician-assisted suicide. Peoria-based OSF, runs 17 hospitals in northern and central Illinois.
“OSF considers itself a Catholic health ministry founded by the Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis. OSF HealthCare is saddened to hear that Governor Pritzker signed SB 1950 into law. As a Catholic health ministry, OSF is guided by honoring the dignity of every human person, and we will not participate in or support any form of physician-assisted suicide. These practices are fundamentally inconsistent with our Mission to serve with the greatest care and love. We will always uphold the sacredness of human life from conception through
natural death.
“During the next nine months, when the legislation takes effect, we will work to educate our patients, the public, and our Mission Partners about the legislation. We remain fully committed to compassionate, person-centered care for those facing serious illness, end-of-life decisions, or significant suffering. We will continue to provide robust palliative care, hospice, pain management, emotional support, and spiritual care to patients and families, ensuring that no one feels alone or without options during their most vulnerable moments.”
Bishop Malloy encouraged Catholics to respond to the new law with action and prayer.
“We must now turn our efforts to support the programs which offer help for the root causes of catastrophic sickness and those in mental health crisis. We must also work to protect all people from undo pressure to end their lives and promote safeguards to this abhorrent legislation.
“Please continue to pray for respect for the dignity of human life, especially for those who seek our love, support and help as their lives draw to a close.”
Bishop Malloy’s full statement along with that of the Catholic Conference of Illinois is posted at www.rockforddiocese.org
