CV NEWS FEED // Catholic dioceses and a pro-life organization in Illinois are calling for citizens to oppose legislation that would legalize assisted suicide in the state.
The Senate Executive Committee held a hearing Feb. 21 for Senate Bill 9, the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act.
The bill’s summary says it would allow eligible terminally ill patients to request a prescription for “aid-in-dying medication,” a euphemism that describes the drugs used to commit physician-assisted suicide.
State Sen. Linda Holmes (D) introduced SB 9 Jan. 13. The next day, state Rep. Robyn Gabel (D) filed House Bill 1328, which also aims to legalize assisted suicide in the state. In February 2024, Holmes had introduced the same senate bill — then under the name SB 3499 — which effectively died in that legislative session. When state legislators considered SB 3499, the Catholic bishops of Illinois spoke out against it.
“Assisted suicide is not a compassionate solution for those who are suffering,” they said in February 2024. “There is a better way forward that truly offers compassionate care and compassionate choices.”
They added that holistic palliative care, which supports the person spiritually, physically, emotionally, and socially, is an effective and acceptable way to help alleviate suffering.
In the Feb. 21 hearing, the committee was set to hear testimony from people in favor and against the legislation, according to the Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity. The organization’s executive director, Matthew Eppinette, attended the hearing.
According to Capitol News Illinois, no vote was taken Feb. 21, as the hearing instead was focused on “subject matter” alone. Witnesses who attended the hearing shared their perspectives.
Among those in support was Deb Robertson, who said she was diagnosed three years ago with an aggressive liver cancer. Capitol News Illinois reports that Robertson said that the bill “would give me the option to die peacefully and on my own terms. There’s a level of comfort in that.”
A doctor from the West Side of Chicago named Benjamin German said the “safeguards” in the bill are insufficient and do not guard against abuse.
Riley Spreadbury, a member of the Board of Directors for the Disability Resource Center, voiced concern about the bill.
“The definition of a life worth living is subjective and often influenced by the resources one has and not their potential expiration date,” she said, according to Chicago-based outlet WGN-TV 9.
Leading up to the hearing, the Catholic dioceses of Rockford and Springfield, along with Illinois Right to Life, all urged residents to file witness slips against the legislation.
The Diocese of Springfield posted Feb. 20 how to file a slip, which is an oral or written statement or registration of opposition or support of legislation. Illinois Right to Life, which also urged people to file them, noted in an email that the bill “infringes on fundamental freedoms of religion and conscience” and risks weakening standards of healthcare and insurance coverage for medical treatments. Illinois residents who oppose the bill can also contact their legislators and attend the March 25 Illinois Pro-Life March.
On a webpage about assisted suicide and euthanasia, the Diocese of Rockford calls for the faithful to contact their legislators to express their opposition to SB9, stating: “As Catholics, we are called to speak out against wrongdoing.”
The Diocese offers resources about how to share Catholic beliefs with elected officials, and how to oppose assisted suicide.
“Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states, as quoted on the diocese’s webpage. “Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.”
The diocese encourages the faithful to pray the St. John Paul II Novena for Life to defeat the assisted suicide legislation in Illinois.
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