Illinois passes assisted suicide bill in dead of night

Legalizing assisted suicide in Illinois will make the state more dangerous for the poor and marginalized, said the state's bishops, and a Catholic moral theologian called the vote by the state's General Assembly an act of evil.

Shortly before 3 in the morning on Friday, October 31, the Illinois State Senate voted to approve SB 1950, a bill that was introduced as "sanitary food preparation," yet was actually a bill that would allow those with less than six months to live to receive medication to end their lives.

The bill would require that doctors discuss all end-of-life options with someone who is terminally ill, including "medical aid in dying." Patients who request an assisted suicide must be capable of self-administering the medication and must ask twice verbally and once in writing.

A Catholic moral theologian told Aleteia that the lawmakers' behavior to push the bill through was highly unusual.

"If it wasn't bizarre enough to pass something this important in the dead of night, the fact that they used an unrelated food safety bill to do it on the down-low makes this downright bonkers," Dr. Charlie Camosy, an associate professor of moral theology at The Catholic University of America told Aleteia.

"Though, obviously, to call a bill 'bonkers' that will pressure so many vulnerable people to kill themselves really doesn't capture the spirit of what happened here. It wasn't just bonkers. It was evil," said Camosy.

The Catholic Conference of Illinois, which represents the state's Catholic bishops, said in a statement that legalizing assisted suicide would "have foreseeable tragic consequences."

"With all the assaults on human dignity and the growing number of vulnerable people we see every day, sadly the leaders and members of the General Assembly who voted for this offer us suicide as its response," said the statement.

The bill now goes to Gov. JB Pritzker's desk for his signature. Leaders at the Catholic Conference of Illinois expressed hopes that he will not sign.

"We ask him not only to veto this bill in totality, but also to address humanely the reasons why some view assisted suicide as their only option and to heed the impact of similar legislation on other states and nations," said the bishops.

Instead of legalizing assisted suicide, the bishops request that Pritzker "expand and improve on palliative care programs that offer expert assessment and management of pain and other symptoms. These programs support caregivers and help ensure patient care is coordinated with other services."

What's more, said the bishops, palliative care "represent(s) a compassionate and morally acceptable alternative to assisted suicide."

Legalizing assisted suicide could result in an increase in the number of suicides in young people who are not terminally ill, noted the Illinois bishops.

"According to the National Institutes of Health, suicide contagion is a real risk to these young people after exposure to suicide. Add to that the ready availability of firearms in the U.S. and this is a tragedy we do not need to compound," said the bishops.

"It defies common sense for our state to enact a 9-8-8 suicide [telephone] hotline, increase funding for suicide prevention programs and then pass a law that, based on the experience of other jurisdictions, results in more suicide."

The Catholic Conference of Illinois requested prayers for those who are sick or dying, their caregivers, and for "all who feel life is no long worth living and need our support."

Should Illinois legalize assisted suicide, it will become the 12th state in the United States to approve the practice.