Illinois lawmakers pass controversial right-to-die bill

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — Early Friday morning, the Illinois legislature passed a bill that would allow doctors to prescribe fatal doses of medication to terminally ill patients. Opponents of the bill have described it as legalizing assisted suicide.

Senate Bill 1950, originally introduced as a measure concerning “sanitary food preparation,” ultimately carried the language of the End of Life Options Act, a proposal allowing mentally competent adults with six months or less to live the option to obtain a prescription for medication to peacefully end their lives.

Under the proposal, physicians would be required to first discuss all available alternatives, including comfort care, hospice, and pain management. Patients would have to be capable of self-administering the medication and complete a rigorous request process: two verbal requests and one written request witnessed by two individuals who affirm that the decision is voluntary and made with a sound mind.

The legislation also mandates that doctors discuss all end-of-life care options, including medical aid in dying. It further specifies that life insurance benefits may not be denied to families of patients who choose to use the law.

The Catholic Diocese of Rockford was among the opponents of the bill. Bishop David Malloy said that, in states where assisted suicide is legal, some insurance companies have reportedly refused to cover treatment for terminally ill patients while approving the comparatively low cost of life-ending medication.

Malloy also cited the American Medical Association, which maintains that “physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role as healer, would be difficult or impossible to control, and would pose serious societal risks.”

The bill now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk for his signature.

Groups, such as the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, are calling on the governor to veto the bill.