Assisted suicide bills moving forward in Springfield

On Ash Wednesday, March 5, the Illinois Senate and House committees were slated to hear bills that would make it legal for a physician or advanced practice nurse to prescribe an array of drugs to someone diagnosed with a terminal illness who wants to end their life. [Editor's note: After this story went to press in our print edition on March 4, the hearings were postponed because lawmakers wanted more time to refine their proposal, news media reported.] 

The Catholic Church opposes assisted suicide, which is legal in 10 states. Several other states have similar legislation pending.

“The Catholic Bishops of Illinois oppose any legislation that would legalize assisted suicide as there is a better way forward for our State,” the bishops wrote in a letter released by the Catholic Conference of Illinois. “Proponents argue that this legislation will end suffering at the end of life. We agree that no one should needlessly suffer or have to watch a loved one experience unnecessary pain and suffering. Fortunately, there are now effective ways to make a person more comfortable at the end of life through palliative care. This relatively new specialty utilizes physician-led teams to care for the whole person — physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually — to relieve the symptoms and the stress that often accompany serious illness and side effects of treatment. A better way forward is to expand the number and availability of palliative care programs throughout Illinois.”

The Catholic Conference of Illinois has been encouraging the faithful to reach out to their legislators and express their opposition to the bills in question, Senate Bill 9 and House Bill 1328.

“We believe that our lives don’t belong to ourselves, that we are a gift from God and we don’t have the authority or the ability to take our own lives,” said Robert Gilligan, director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois. “Our church teaches that ending life prematurely through assisted suicide is actually a sin. And more than that, it doesn’t acknowledge the full power of God’s teachings and what our faith says about it.”

Not only is assisted suicide bad theology, but it is bad public policy, he said, citing several problematic issues.

The first issue is coercion, he said. There are no safeguards in the bills that would prevent anyone from coercing or exploiting someone into ending life-saving treatment.

“Even in other states where this has passed, the law does very little to prevent coercion and exploitation because I’m not sure they [legislators] want to know. There’s no oversight. There’s no ombudsman. There’s no 1-800 number,” he said. 

A person can easily be coerced into taking the drugs even if they change their mind, Gilligan noted, adding that the medical provider’s role ends once the prescription is written.

The second concern is that insurance companies could see prescribing assisted suicide drugs as being more cost effective than covering an expensive treatment for a person’s illness.

The poor and marginalized, who often have insufficient health care coverage, are probably more vulnerable than those who have sufficient insurance coverage, Gilligan said.

Then there are people with disabilities, who often do not receive adequate health care treatments just because of their conditions or how they look, he added.

“Obviously, the disability community is very concerned about this,” Gilligan said. “They’re everywhere and they are adamant against this.”

He also cautioned about the slippery slope the state could go down if the bill becomes law. For example, as the legislation is currently written, a person must be an Illinois resident to receive the medication, but that could always be lifted, as is being pushed for in other states.

Also, under the current versions of the bills, assisted suicide would only be for people with terminal illnesses, but that could change later too, Gilligan said.

“My point is, once you put this on the table as an option for end-of-life care, that is a very slippery slope. And, unfortunately, I think it leads to a situation where killing has become the solution to alleviate pain,” he said.

Gilligan also pointed out that research done in states with assisted suicide shows that once it becomes law, the number of non-assisted suicides increases.

For more information, visit ilcatholic.org.