(Oregon Right to Life) — Illinois this month became the twelfth state to legalize assisted suicide despite a vocal opposition campaign by advocates for the protection of elderly and medically vulnerable people.
On Friday, December 12, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation authorizing doctors in the state to prescribe lethal drugs. The signing comes after the Illinois Senate quietly passed the bill by a tight margin on October 31st, provoking strong criticism from pro-life and disability rights groups.
The bill – which was originally put forward as a food safety measure and later controversially amended to include assisted suicide language – would allow “a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request that a physician prescribe aid-in-dying medication…” The new law is slated to take effect in September of next year.
RELATED: Illinois Senate Quietly Passes Dangerous Assisted Suicide Bill on Halloween
Governor Pritzker said in a statement he had been “deeply impacted by the stories of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness.” He said that the new law “will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy.”
But pro-life advocates have expressed strong opposition to Illinois’ bill and other measures legalizing assisted suicide. Arguments against legalization include that the practice is opposed to the dignity and sanctity of human life; that, in practice, it leads from the alleged “right to die” to an implicit “duty to die”; and that it unnecessarily opens avenues for coercion, manipulation, and abuse.
Responding to the news of Pritzker’s signing of the legislation, Patients’ Rights Action Fund – a national nonprofit organization opposed to assisted suicide – called the action “devastating to vulnerable citizens.”
“Truly, some people will die needlessly from assisted suicide through erroneous medical predictions, family pressures, economic factors, and bad judgment,” Patients’ Rights Action Fund said in an email shared with Oregon Right to Life. “We mourn the passage of this law.”
The organization also praised the “coalition which valiantly fought to prevent this,” a bipartisan group that put aside “political differences” to “protect their constituencies…”
National Right to Life president Carol Tobias also blasted Pritzker’s decision to sign the bill, warning that the legislation “abandons people at their most vulnerable moments and sends the message that their lives are not worth living.”
“Assisted suicide is not health care, and it is not compassion,” Tobias said in a statement shared with Oregon Right to Life via email. She argued that the new law “sets Illinois on a path where the elderly, those with a disability or struggling with serious illness may find themselves pressured—subtly or overtly—to end their lives prematurely.”
“Once again, ideological commitments have trumped patient safety,” she added. “The experience of countries and states that have legalized assisted suicide is clear: safeguards erode, eligibility expands, and the most vulnerable pay the price. Illinois will be no exception.”
The practice of assisted suicide is currently legal in twelve U.S. states, Washington, D.C., Canada, and numerous European countries, including Switzerland.
Oregon was the first state in the nation to legalize physician-assisted suicide under the euphemistically titled “Death With Dignity Act,” which was passed in 1994 and took effect in 1997. The law allows physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to patients diagnosed with a terminal illness and given six months or fewer to live. In 2023, Democratic Governor Tina Kotek signed a law stripping away the DWDA’s residency requirement, allowing Oregon physicians to prescribe lethal drugs to people who travel to Oregon from other states. The rate of assisted suicide prescriptions has increased over time, with a 30% jump in 2023 followed by an 8% increase in 2024. Last year, assisted suicides made up about one in every 100 deaths statewide.
RELATED: Founder of Assisted Suicide Organization Ends His Life Through ‘Voluntarily Assisted Dying’
Loopholes in Oregon’s DWDA criteria have reportedly allowed physicians to prescribe death-inducing drugs to patients for a broad swath of reasons, including diabetes, arthritis, and even anorexia.
This week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced she plans to sign a similar law to legalize assisted suicide in the Empire State.
