Illinois bill to legalize assisted suicide stalls in Senate

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A bill that would legally allow doctors to prescribe fatal doses of medication to terminally ill patients has stalled in the Illinois Senate.

Senate Bill 1950 was introduced as “sanitary food preparation” legislation, but contained the “End of Life Options Act,” which would give a mentally sound adult with six months or less to live the option to get medication to die peacefully with the help of a prescription.

Under the bill, a physician must first provide information about comfort care, palliative care, and pain control, and the patient must be able to self-ingest the medication. They would have to make two oral requests and a written request, and the request must be witnessed by two people who attest that the patient is acting voluntarily and with a sound mind.

This legislation will also require doctors to talk about all end-of-life care options, including medical aid in dying. Life insurance payments cannot be denied to the families of those who use the law.

The Illinois House passed the measure, but it did not clear the Senate before the end of the spring legislative session.

The Catholic Diocese of Rockford was among the groups opposing the act, with Bishop David Malloy saying, “In states with legalized suicide, there are documented cases of insurance companies refusing to pay for the necessary care of the terminally ill while at the same time, they will cover the small cost of the drugs resulting in the end of life.”

Malloy also quoted the American Medical Association as saying, “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.”