Governor Pritzker Signs Physician-Assisted Suicide Law for Terminally Ill Patients Despite Catholic Opposition

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed legislation Friday that will allow terminally ill adults to request life-ending medication, making Illinois the latest state to authorize physician-assisted suicide for patients with a prognosis of six months or less to live.

The law, officially named the Medical Aid in Dying bill but also known as “Deb’s Law,” will take effect in September 2026. The implementation timeline gives healthcare providers and the Illinois Department of Public Health sufficient time to establish the necessary protocols and safeguards.

“This legislation will help terminal patients avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” Pritzker said in a statement. The Democratic governor emphasized the law will be “thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy and empathy.”

The bill is named after Deb Robertson, a lifelong Illinois resident with a rare terminal illness. Robertson expressed satisfaction at having played a role in ensuring that “terminally ill Illinoisans have access to medical aid in dying.”

Under the new law, eligible patients must self-administer the medication, and the legislation makes it a felony to coerce anyone to request the medication or forge a request. Patients who qualify and receive medication retain the right to withdraw their request at any time or choose not to use it.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois praised the measure, stating that terminally ill Illinois residents will “no longer have to agonize about spending their remaining days fearful of a painful death.”

However, the legislation has faced significant opposition, particularly from religious and disability advocacy groups. The Catholic Conference of Illinois has been outspoken in its criticism.

“Assisted suicide is not the compassionate solution for those who are suffering,” the Catholic Bishops of Illinois stated in September. “Through palliative care, expanded access to mental health care, and stronger family and community support, providers and families are finding better ways to accompany these people compassionately that truly confer the love for, and dignity of, each human life.”

Critics have raised concerns about potential “unintended consequences,” citing documented cases in other states where people have reportedly been denied life-saving medical treatment by insurance companies in favor of the less expensive option of life-ending drugs.

“The poor and those with disabilities are particularly in jeopardy as they are the most vulnerable to such abuses,” the Catholic Conference of Illinois wrote. “In response, every major national organization that represents people with disabilities is opposed to assisted suicide.”

The Thomas More Society, a national public interest law firm, claimed that Illinois has “crossed a moral and legal red line” with the legislation. The organization’s executive vice president, Thomas Olp, stated, “When the state signals that some lives are no longer worth living, the most vulnerable pay the price. Instead of offering true compassion, support, and care, this law offers a fatal prescription. That is not mercy. It is abandonment.”

The law includes provisions addressing religious and conscience objections. While physicians, healthcare providers, and pharmacists are not required to participate in assisted suicide, physicians who object on moral or religious grounds must refer patients to providers who will participate. This requirement has drawn criticism from groups concerned about conscience rights.

“The State is forcing doctors to become active participants and cooperators in a patient’s suicide—no matter if their faith, ethics, or Hippocratic Oath forbid it,” Olp wrote. “This is unconscionable coercion, plain and simple.”

The law also requires religious hospitals and clinics to retain staff who promote assisted deaths on-site, provided those staff administer lethal drugs off-site—a provision opponents argue violates the mission of religious healthcare institutions.

Death certificates for those who use the medical aid in dying option will list their underlying terminal disease as the cause of death, rather than suicide.

Illinois joins a growing number of states that have legalized some form of physician-assisted suicide, reflecting the ongoing national debate over end-of-life care and patient autonomy versus ethical and religious concerns about the sanctity of life.