SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (LifeSiteNews) – Illinois lawmakers introduced legislation to permit suicide for the terminally ill that the Catholic Conference of Illinois is calling on the faithful to help defeat.
The so-called End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act allows mentally competent adults diagnosed as having six months or fewer to live to request drugs to kill themselves, provided two doctors affirm their condition. There must be two oral requests five days apart plus one written request with two witnesses (one of whom cannot be a relative or a financial beneficiary). The lethal drugs must be self-administered, not injections or IVs operated by a third party.
“The bill is modeled after laws in authorized jurisdictions, including the first legislation in Oregon, which has had over 25 years of experience with this law and has never had a single instance of abuse or coercion,” the pro-euthanasia group Compassion & Choices claims.
The Catholic Conference of Illinois has a different view.
“In keeping with our faith traditions, legalizing assisted suicide goes against the Church’s teachings on the sanctity and dignity of human life. It undermines the value of each human person, particularly those who are vulnerable,” the Conference said in an action alert urging followers to contact their state senators to demand they oppose the bill.
“Laws permitting assisted suicide pose significant risks to the poor, marginalized, and disabled, who may face pressure to end their lives rather than receive the care and compassion they need and deserve,” it added. “There are documented cases from states where assisted suicide has been legalized, where individuals with rare or life-threatening conditions were denied necessary medical treatment and were instead offered life-ending prescriptions.”
Patients Rights Action Fund (PRAF) executive director Matt Vallière recently argued that current euthanasia programs in the United States constitute discrimination against patients with life-threatening conditions in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, as when a state will “will pay for every instance of assisted suicide” but not palliative care, “I don’t call that autonomy, I call that eugenics.”
In America, nine states plus the District of Columbia currently allow assisted suicide. In March, Delaware took a step closer to becoming the tenth with its own legalization bill, although it has yet to become law. Another bill recently failed in Maryland.
Support is available to talk those struggling with suicidal thoughts out of ending their lives. The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988.
