Illinois Now First Midwest State To Allow Medical Aid In Dying

A landmark law is beginning in Illinois.

Back in December, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed off on a law that allows medical aid in dying (MAID), which is physician-assisted suicide.

The law was supposed to go into effect over the weekend, but one order from a federal judge is temporarily exempting Catholic health care workers from the law. The argument being that those workers have a legal right to not adhere to the law if it violates their faith.

Cardinal Blasé Cupich said:

I welcome this decision of the court that stays the enforcement of the provisions of the Illinois End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLOA) that require healthcare providers, against their conscience, to participate in assisted suicide. These obligations violate core constitutional protections of freedom of speech and religion. The law with these provisions must be struck down permanently. To be clear, the Church's objection to this statute is not an attempt to impose Catholic
teaching on non-Catholics; it is an effort to stop the State from compelling Catholic health care providers
to violate their conscience.

Pope Leo XIV is aware of the law after having spoke with Governor Pritzker during his visit to the Vatican and the pope was disappointed that it passed.

The law "authorizes a qualified patient with a terminal disease to request that a physician prescribe aid-in-dying medication that will allow the patient to end the patient’s life in a peaceful manner".

To go into effect, the bill says that a person must be terminally ill with 6 months or less to live. The person must be capable of making their own health-related decisions, a doctor must prescribe the medication, and the patient must be able to self-adminster it.

Illinois is the 13th state to allow MAID.