My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

Illinois Senate Bill 1950 was introduced last February as “The Sanitary Food Preparation Act” and went through the usual hearing process in the Illinois General Assembly under that title. Unrelatedly, in January, legislators had filed legislation to legalize assisted suicide in both the Senate (SB 9) and the House (HB 1328), which provided to allow persons considered “terminally ill” to receive and self-administer lethal drugs after a physician determined they were mentally sound and had less than six months to live. Despite the euphemistic title, the “End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act,” the bill was recognized for what it was: the legalization of assisted suicide in Illinois. Robust deliberation occurred in the Senate (Executive Committee), but SB 9 was never brought before the full body. We can only assume that if the votes were there to pass it, the Senate would have done so. 

Since assisted suicide had stalled in the Senate, proponents resorted to a legislative maneuver that, while accepted at the Capitol, is somewhat deceptive to the public. On May 23, with eight days remaining in the legislation session and right before the Memorial Day weekend, the House deleted the original language in SB 1950, the Sanitary Food Preparation Act and replaced it with the assisted suicide legislation instead. Helped by this lack of transparency – the Illinois House passed the bill on May 29 with a 63-42 vote with two members voting present and five choosing not to vote. With only having to get a Motion to Concur to pass in the Senate, advocates for assisted suicide then sought to get this bill passed before the midnight deadline on May 31. SB 1950, as amended to physician-assisted suicide, was not called, apparently because the Senate sponsor did not have the 30 votes needed to pass the bill.

While the failure of the Illinois General Assembly to legalize assisted suicide in this session is a relief for now, all advocates, especially pro-life advocates should not be lulled into a sense of complacency thinking that the war has been won. Although the backers of assisted suicide lost this battle, they are not going to disappear and give up the fight. You can be sure they will be back pushing for assisted suicide in the next legislative session, so pro-life advocates who seek to protect all human life from conception to natural death must be ready and alert for the next attack on the lives of disabled persons, the elderly, and the terminally ill.

There are many people to thank for their determined efforts to defeat physician-assisted suicide legislation, especially the Catholic Conference of Illinois, the Illinois Catholic Health Association, Access Living, Misericordia, Illinois Right to Life, Illinois Family Institute, the Illinois State Medical Society, Progress Center for Independent Living, along with numerous doctors, nurses, and other lay Catholics who spent countless hours engaging with their lawmakers and helping them to see the numerous moral and ethical problems with assisted suicide.

What are the moral and ethical problems with assisted suicide? In our statement issued earlier this year opposing physician-assisted suicide, the Catholic Bishops here in the State of Illinois said that we “oppose any legislation that would legalize assisted suicide as there is a better way forward for our State. Proponents argue that this legislation will end suffering at the end-of-life. We agree that no one should needlessly suffer or have to watch a loved one experience unnecessary pain and suffering. Fortunately, there are now effective ways to make a person more comfortable at the end of life through palliative care. … The unintended consequences that arise from legalized assisted suicide include a large range of possible abuses. It is alarming that in states with legalized suicide, there are documented cases of people being denied life-saving medical treatment by insurance companies in lieu of the much cheaper option of life-ending drugs. The poor and those with disabilities are particularly in jeopardy as they are the most vulnerable to such abuses. In response, every major national organization that represents people with disabilities is opposed to assisted suicide.”

The American Medical Association (AMA) has summed up the case against assisted suicide well. “Physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would provide serious societal risks.”

The Church has consistently taught that our life is a gift from God and its dignity is to be respected from the moment of our conception to our natural death. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for His honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of” (par. 2280).

Actions which intentionally shorten life, even in the midst of suffering, cheapen human dignity and lead to a culture where some life is treated as having more value than others. When euthanasia is accepted and practiced, it casts a shadow over the lives of those who endure handicaps, are elderly or infirm. When public policy endorses the intentional ending of life when its end is near, it creates the expectation that life should not include suffering. 

In each person’s life, the mystery of health and sickness, joy and suffering co-exist. While the practice of medicine that seeks to heal and alleviate suffering is a great vocation and work of mercy, the alleviation of suffering may never be confused with the elimination of the suffering person. The Catholic Church offers more to care for the sick and needy than any other institution. Truly wholistic care for a patient and loved one should include the emotional and spiritual care to address their pain adequately and to accompany them through the last chapter of life, through death into eternal life.

May God give us this grace. Amen.