On Oct. 31, the Illinois Senate passed Senate Bill 1950, which would legalize physician- assisted suicide in the State of Illinois, pending approval from Gov. JB Pritzker. The bill passed with the minimum number of votes needed in the Senate, 30, with all Republicans voting no and eight Democrats voting no. 

The bill would allow individuals to request and self-administer a drug to kill themselves. According to the bill, anyone requesting assisted suicide must be at least 18 years old, a resident of Illinois, and have a terminal disease with a prognosis of six months or less to live.

“It is quite fitting that the forces of the culture of death in the Illinois General Assembly passed physician-assisted suicide on Oct. 31 — a day that, culturally, has become synonymous with glorifying death and evil. It’s also ironic that these pro-death legislators did it under the cloud of darkness at 2:54 a.m. Make no mistake: killing oneself is not dying with dignity,” said Bishop Thomas John Paprocki.  “Doctors take an oath to do no harm. Now, they can prescribe death. There are documented cases of patients being denied treatment and instead offered life-ending drugs. Individuals could also be coerced into taking the lethal drug. Physician-assisted suicide undermines the value of each person, especially the vulnerable, the poor, and those with disabilities. Pray for Gov. Pritzker to reject this legislation. Illinois should be a state that offers compassion, care, and hope —not death — as the answer to human suffering.”

“It defies common sense for our state to enact a 9-8-8 suicide hotline, increase funding for suicide prevention programs and then pass a law that, based on the experience of other jurisdictions, results in more suicide,” said the Catholic Conference of Illinois.

The bill requires two verbal requests for the lethal drug from the patient, with a five-day waiting period between the first and second request. The death certificates of individuals using physician-assisted suicide would list the terminal disease as the cause of death, not suicide. Pritzker will have 60 days to decide whether to sign or veto the bill before it automatically becomes law.