Evanston City Council Dumps Assisted Suicide Resolution

Tuesday, February 11, 2020

Evanston City Council members last night ducked a resolution in support of assisted suicide after a large turnout of advocates on both sides of the issue.

Disability rights activists from Chicagoland organizations Access Living, Chicago ADAPT and Progress Center for Independent Living showed up to tell of the dangers of assisted suicide, while individuals representing national advocacy group Compassion and Choices  pushed the so-called “safety” of the process.

Just as the council was set to take up the resolution, Evanston resident Fay Clayton, wearing a yellow Compassion and Choices T-shirt, asked for the resolution to be withdrawn. Evanston Mayor Stephen Hagerty agreed, but allowed attendees to make short comments about the proposal. When the comments ended, council members struck the resolution from its agenda, saying more public discussion was needed.

Disability Advocates Oppose Evanston City Council Resolution

By Diane Coleman, Not Dead Yet

To view the original article, click here.

They say that “all politics are local.” While bills to legalize assisted suicide are a state issue, proponents of these dangerous bills are engaging in local politics as well.

An example is the Evanston City Council in Illinois. This is the home district of the lead sponsor in the state legislature. Last Thursday, the local newspaper announced that a proposed City Council resolution favoring the bill would be heard before the Council’s Human Services Committee on Monday, February 3rd. (h/t to Stephen Mendelsohn of Second Thoughts Connecticut for alerting us.)