Copyright Chicago Tribune
Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said he was still deciding whether he’d sign legislation that would permit doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives, after the bill narrowly passed the General Assembly last week. “It was something that I didn’t expect and didn’t know it was going to be voted on, so we’re examining it even now,” Pritzker said. The Democratic-run state Senate, before dawn broke Friday, voted with the bare minimum 30 votes to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults the right to access life-ending prescription medication with physician oversight. The vote sent the bill to the governor’s desk. But opponents, including disability advocates and the Catholic Church, have pushed back against the measure, saying it could lead to discrimination, coercion and abuse. Pritzker, who is running for a third term next year and is widely considered a potential 2028 contender for the Democratic presidential nomination, on Monday said he’s still taking input on the controversial bill and has already “heard a lot” from advocates backing the legislation. Speaking to reporters at an unrelated event at the Philip J. Rock Center and School in Glen Ellyn for deaf-blind children, Pritzker signaled an openness to the advocates’ arguments but was noncommittal about signing the legislation into law. “I know how terrible it is that someone who’s in the last six months of their life could be experiencing terrible pain and anguish, and I know people who have gone through that,” Pritzker said Monday, echoing the rhetoric of some lawmakers who have advocated for the bill. “I know people whose family members have gone through that, and so, I mean, it hits me deeply and makes me wonder about how we can alleviate the pain that they’re going through.” At least 10 other states, including Oregon, California, Colorado and Hawaii, allow medical aid in dying. The legislation received support from the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and Compassion and Choices Action Network. The state Senate voted on the medical aid-in-dying bill at roughly 3 a.m. Friday as it teed up an unrelated vote to overhaul and fund the Chicago area’s mass transit systems, after a marathon legislative session day. Pritzker earlier in the short session bucked fellow party members when he voiced his opposition to House Democrats’ initial proposal to bail out the Chicago region’s public transit bill through an amusement tax, a fee on concert and professional sports tickets, and a tax on billionaires. However, both chambers and the governor’s office eventually reached an agreement on the public transit issue before the week was out, with an array of other revenue options. Pritzker is expected to sign the transit bill. The full House and Senate are not expected to meet again until next year. The medical aid–in-dying legislation outlines a deliberate process for someone who is terminally ill to get the assistance of a doctor and be able to receive life-ending medication, including the physician mandating the patient make multiple requests for the end-of-life medication. Debates over the bill in the House and last week in the Senate became emotional at times as lawmakers on both sides talked about their own experiences with death, and opponents questioned the morality of the legislation. One opponent, GOP state Sen. Chris Balkema of Channahon, suggested it could “introduce a culture of death into Illinois.” State Sen. Linda Holmes, a Democrat from Aurora and the main Senate sponsor of the legislation, said it was a matter of choice. “If you are opposed to it, whether the reason is moral, religious, you just don’t like the idea, fine. I would never tell you you should choose this option,” Holmes said. “What I’m saying is ‘why? Why?’ If I am facing an illness where I am going to die in pain, do you think you should tell me I don’t have the option to alleviate that pain?”
