Advocates for disabled, imprisoned oppose 'dangerous' patient
end-of-life bills
[March 11, 2025]
By Jim Talamonti | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – Illinois lawmakers are pushing patient
"end-of-life" bills for the second year in a row, but a coalition
opposed to the legislation says people who are disabled would be harmed.
Stop Assisted Suicide Illinois Coalition members say Senate Bill 9 and
House Bill 1328 would legalize assisted suicide.
Disability policy professional Jules Good said many disabilities can
become terminal due to lack of access to appropriate care. Good said
there has been a push by some doctors to reclassify treatable conditions
like anorexia as terminal.
“I cannot overstate how dangerous this is. When I was at my lowest, if a
doctor had told me I could just end it all, I absolutely would have,”
Good said.
Good added that it was only through years of compassionate treatment,
therapy and support that she is now in recovery.
Good said too many people struggling with eating disorders are denied
care in a profit-driven healthcare system.
“If an insurer can choose between covering years of complex health care
or a lethal prescription, no amount of safeguards in this bill could
ever prevent a situation where someone will be pressured to die because
they’ve been denied care,” Good said.
State Senator Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, filed Senate Bill 9 in January
after sponsoring similar legislation last year. State Rep. Robyn Gabel,
D-Evanston, filed matching House Bill 1328. The measures would create
the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act.
Sebastian Nalls is a healthcare policy analyst at Access Living, a
disability service and advocacy center. According to Nalls, the bills
discriminate against prison inmates suffering from illnesses and
disabilities. He said the measures would allow insurance providers to
use coercive tactics by denying coverage while offering
physician-assisted suicide, or PAS.
Nalls said the state already struggles to provide adequate medical care
for the elderly, disabled and terminally ill in the Illinois Department
of Corrections.
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Photo by
Tucker Good on Unsplash
“Cases such as Dean v. Wexford, insignificant hospice care in
Illinois prisons and low amounts of releases via the Joe Coleman Act
all point to PAS becoming a preferred option for end-of-life health
care within IDOC, effectively instituting the death penalty for
those incarcerated,” Nalls said.
Nalls said Black people with disabilities experience double
discrimination.
Dr. Kevin Garner of Granite City is certified in internal medicine
and hospice and palliative care. Garner said there is no guarantee
that patients who opt for assisted suicide would have a peaceful
death. He pointed to cases in Oregon where the dying process took
several hours, with choking, vomiting and seizures also reported.
Garner said drugs used for PAS were approved for other purposes and
not for ending lives.
In addition, Garner said the American College of Physicians and the
Illinois State Medical Society strongly oppose assisted suicide, and
he pointed to the American Medical Association’s code of ethics.
“Euthanasia is fundamentally incompatible with the physician’s role
as a healer. It would be difficult or possible to control,” Garner
read.
“Legislators, please pay attention! It would be difficult or
impossible to control or regulate,” he emphasized.
“Don’t turn doctors into killers,” Garner pleaded.
The national suicide and crisis lifeline can be reached by calling
or texting 988. The service is free and confidential.
Kevin Bessler contributed to this story. |
