{"id":22444,"date":"2025-11-06T10:43:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:43:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=22444"},"modified":"2025-11-06T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T16:44:53","slug":"medical-assisted-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/local-news\/22444-medical-assisted-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical Assisted Death"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_print\"Print<\/span><\/a><\/div>

State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, sponsored a bill that would legalize medical aid in dying in Illinois, which still must be signed by the governor to become law. (Capitol News Illinois photo by Jerry Nowicki)<\/h4>\n

By MAGGIE DOUGHERTY <\/span>
\n<\/span>Capitol News Illinois <\/span>
\n<\/span>mdougherty@capitolnewsillinois.com<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This summary was written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

CHICAGO \u2014 Terminally ill adults in Illinois may have the option to take life-ending medication prescribed by a physician under a bill passed by the Illinois legislature last week during its fall session.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advocates for the bill say it is rooted in compassion and will bring agency to already dying people in the last stages of life, while opponents cite religious concerns and potential harm to vulnerable populations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Senate voted 30-27 to pass <\/span>Senate Bill 1950<\/span><\/a> in the early morning hours on Oct. 31 after the House <\/span>passed it 63-42<\/span><\/a> in May. The legislation needs only the governor\u2019s signature to become law and, if signed, would take effect after nine months.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill received support from advocates like Suzy Flack, formerly of Chicago, who has pushed for the legislation in honor of her son Andrew, 34 at the time of his death from cancer in 2022. Andrew chose to live in California and utilize the state\u2019s medical aid in dying options, which were not available in Illinois at the time. He is one of several advocates named in the bill text.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cInevitably, losing a child is the hardest thing that anyone could go through, I believe,\u201d Flack said. \u201cI am just comforted every day by the way his death was so peaceful. He had some control over things.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How did they vote?\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

See <\/span><\/i>how the Illinois House voted<\/span><\/i><\/a> on this issue in May.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

What\u2019s in the bill?<\/b><\/p>\n

The bill sets specific requirements for eligibility to receive end-of-life medication. Patients must be Illinois residents 18 or older who have a terminal disease that is determined by two physicians to result in death within six months.<\/span><\/p>\n

A diagnosis of major depressive disorder does not alone qualify patients for end-of-life medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Patients requesting treatment must make both oral and written requests for aid in dying. A physician would then need to evaluate the patient\u2019s mental capacity and evaluate potential sources of coercion or undue influence and inform the patient of alternative hospice care and pain control options before writing a prescription for life-ending medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who qualify must be able to self-administer the medication, as no one else is permitted to administer it to them. Patients who qualify and receive medication have the right to withdraw their request at any time or choose not to ingest the medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Death certificates of those who take end-of-life medication under the bill will attribute their cause of death to the underlying terminal disease, not suicide.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bill sponsor Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, said on the Senate floor that there are \u201cover 20 guardrails in place\u201d to prevent coercion and abuse, pointing to Oregon\u2019s 28-year history of providing medical aid in dying care.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the years that this has been in effect in Oregon, starting in 1997, there have been no substantiated cases of coercion or abuse,\u201d Holmes said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Including Oregon, 10 states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical aid in dying. Illinois would be <\/span>the first Midwestern state<\/span><\/a> to do so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Guardrails explained<\/b><\/p>\n

Critics of the bill felt there were not enough safeguards in place to prevent harm. Jil Tracy, R-Quincy, raised concern about the six-month diagnosis window, saying that advancements in modern medicine can allow people to outlive their diagnoses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Holmes said this is not common, as doctors tend to overestimate patients\u2019 prognosis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t that many patients that outlive what that prognosis ends up being,\u201d Holmes said. \u201cThose that do are very likely not to take the medication until they get to a point where the pain has gotten so bad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Only 62% of patients prescribed the medication end up taking it, Holmes added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracy and other senators additionally voiced concerns about potent drugs, which patients would bring into their homes to self-administer, falling into the hands of young people struggling with mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n

TRACY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no controls over who might access it besides the patient,\u201d Tracy said. \u201cIn this day and age, we have young children that have suicidal thoughts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Brian McCurdy, who began advocating for medical aid in dying after the death of his life partner Harriet, said the bill doesn\u2019t introduce any risk that is not already there.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, there\u2019s very little control over the medication, the morphine, that\u2019s being given to hospice patients in a home setting,\u201d McCurdy said. \u201cSo, I don\u2019t think this legislation creates more opportunities for bad things to happen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After someone dies in hospice, the medication is collected by a hospice nurse or other medical provider. McCurdy said he expected the same to be true for planned deaths under this bill.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracy also raised concerns about coercion of disabled or elderly populations, particularly that the bill did not prevent heirs from acting as one of the two witnesses required to sign the patient\u2019s request for end-of-life medication.<\/span><\/p>\n

Impact on physicians, culture<\/b><\/p>\n

Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, quoted studies finding very high rates of death by suicide among veterinarians, in part due to the toll of euthanizing animals. McClure likened veterinarians to physicians who care for humans, suggesting the provision of end-of-life care would create a mental health crisis among medical professionals.<\/span><\/p>\n

MCCLURE<\/strong><\/p>\n

The American Medical Association has <\/span>long opposed<\/span><\/a> the practice of physician-assisted aid in dying, calling it \u201cfundamentally incompatible with the physician\u2019s role as healer\u201d and stating that it would pose \u201cserious societal risks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill does not require physicians to prescribe end-of-life medication and protects physicians from civil or criminal liability and professional discipline for either prescribing or refusing to prescribe aid-in-dying care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things I love about the legislation that we\u2019ve passed in Illinois is that it\u2019s not going to require anybody who\u2019s in opposition to be involved,\u201d McCurdy said. \u201cNot patients, not family, not doctors, not pharmacists. Nobody who doesn’t want to be involved is going to have to be involved.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Sen. Chris Balkema, R-Channahon, called the bill \u201ca slippery slope\u201d and pointed to other states expanding options for medical aid in dying after what was initially introduced, including Oregon removing its residency requirement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not right to introduce a culture of death into Illinois,\u201d Balkema said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Advocates of the bill said it is not introducing a culture of death but rather giving agency to those who are already actively dying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like the term assisted suicide, I feel that is very insulting because people with terminal illness want to live,\u201d Suzy Flack said of her son Andrew. \u201cHe fought for many years; he wanted desperately to live.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Balkema spoke from his experience witnessing both of his parents die in hospice in the past three years. Both were at peace with their deaths, Balkema said, and both said they were ready to go \u201cwhen the Lord wants to take me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose are hard words to hear but also comforting to know that we are not in control,\u201d Balkema said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But advocates of the bill say having that control is crucial.<\/span><\/p>\n

Compassion, not suicide<\/b><\/p>\n

Sen. Laura Fine, D-Glenview, thanked legislators for a heartfelt discussion on medical aid in dying.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very personal issue and it\u2019s an issue that is about choice,\u201d Fine said. \u201cThis is not suicide, it is compassion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

FINE<\/strong><\/p>\n

Having the option to control his passing, even if he did not ultimately need it, was something that Flack says brought her son peace of mind.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so comforted by having that option,\u201d Flack said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Flack said she hoped Gov. JB Pritzker would sign the bill to provide agency to people like her son.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked about the bill at a news conference in Glen Ellyn on Monday, Pritzker said he was reviewing the specifics of the legislation.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know how terrible it is that someone who’s in the last six months of their life could be experiencing terrible pain and anguish. And I know people who’ve gone through that,\u201d Pritzker said. \u201cIt hits me deeply and makes me wonder about, you know, how we can alleviate the pain that they’re going through?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Capitol News Illinois<\/span><\/i><\/a> is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, sponsored a bill that would legalize medical aid in dying in Illinois, which still must be signed by the governor to become law. 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