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| Amber Smock |
Terminally ill people in Illinois may soon be able to end their lives with medical assistance.
State lawmakers recently passed a controversial medical-aid-in-dying bill [assisted suicide and/or euthanasia], which now heads to Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk.
Supporters of the measure say it gives those who are already dying a compassionate way to go.
Khadine Bennet, the director of advocacy and intergovernmental affairs at the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, said many terminally ill people have exhausted many other options and want the option to go peacefully.
“A lot of the things we’ve heard from folks is that fear of, at the end of their life, still being in so much pain,” Bennet said. “They want to know that there is an option that’s available to them that is safe.”
But opponents say the measure would worsen longstanding health care disparities — particularly for individuals with disabilities and people who live below the poverty line.
Amber Smock, vice president of advocacy at Access Living, said the bill doesn’t do enough to prevent insurance companies from abusing the system.
“These insurance companies are about the bottom line; they are not about providing health care,” Smock said. “It is simply cheaper for someone to commit suicide than for them to stay alive.”
The bill sets eligibility requirements for life-ending treatment. Patients must be over 18 and have a terminal illness that doctors believe will give them fewer than six months to live.
A diagnosis of major depressive disorder does not alone qualify patients for end-of-life medication.
Patients requesting treatment must make both oral and written requests for aid in dying. A physician would then need to evaluate the patient’s 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.
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.
“This is a patient-led process,” Bennett said. “That means that the individual who is terminal decides whether and when they use this medication so it’s not something that can be done by a surrogate.”
Smock said she was worried that patients struggling with mental health will be directed to life-ending treatment instead of alternative support services.
“Making it easier for people to end their lives is not health care,” Smock said.
Capital News Illinois contributed to this report.