Medical aid in dying is an available end-of-life care option as of September 12, 2026. Illinois authorized medical aid in dying on December 12th, 2025, when Gov. Pritzker signed SB 1950, the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act. Also known as “Deb’s Law” for Compassion & Choices storyteller Deb Robertson, the law goes into effect in September 2026.
We know that many Illinoisans and clinicians have questions about the law, and the practice of medical aid in dying. On the right-hand side of this page, you will find resources for patients (and their loved ones) as well as clinicians, including in-depth guides to the law. If you have any additional questions, please contact our Senior Illinois Campaign Organizer at [email protected].
The law was originally introduced during the 2025 legislative session by our lead sponsors, House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes. The legislation is summarized here.
Survey of Illinois Physicians’ Attitudes Toward Medical Aid in Dying as an End-of-Life Option
Illinois Legislative Campaign Overview
The Compassion & Choices Action Network Illinois team and the ACLU of Illinois partner in the Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition. If you would like to get involved, please sign up here.
In 2026, lawmakers introduced several bills to restrict access to, amend, or repeal the Illinois End-of-Life Options Act. As of spring, none of these bills have moved forward. We will continue to monitor all threats to the law and take action to ensure that medical aid in dying remains an end-of-life care option in Illinois.
Our work doesn’t stop here. Will you make a donation to support our continued efforts to bring vital access resources and education efforts across the state?
Medical aid in dying is for people who are already dying. It is a lawful medical option for qualified adults with a terminal illness, a prognosis of six months or less to live, who can make their own healthcare decisions and have the ability to take the medication themselves.
Medical aid in dying is not suicide or euthanasia. Compassion & Choices supports people seeking information about lawful end-of-life care options in the United States. We do not provide instructions or guidance for ending your life outside supportive medical care.
If you are feeling overwhelmed, in crisis, or thinking about suicide, help is available right now. You are not alone, and your pain deserves care. Call 988, text 988, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at https://988lifeline.org/chat/
Meet Legislative Champion, Illinois Representative Robyn Gabel Today we’re pleased to spotlight Representative Robyn Gabel (D) of the Illinois 18th House District, which includes several north Chicago suburbs. Rep. Gabel also serves as the Assistant Majority Leader. First, please enjoy local and national updates about the end-of-life options movement. Local Update Our Illinois volunteer Action Teams continue…
As we close out 2021, we’re celebrating our first year of publishing this newsletter, bringing you up-to-date news on the growth of the movement to expand and protect end-of-life care options in Illinois. Together we have made terrific progress this year: Forty-five volunteers stepped forward to meet with 16 state legislators by Zoom this summer….
Meet Legislative Champion, Illinois Representative Robyn Gabel Today we’re pleased to spotlight Representative Robyn Gabel (D) of the Illinois 18th House District, which includes several north Chicago suburbs. Rep. Gabel also serves as the Assistant Majority Leader. First, please enjoy local and national updates about the end-of-life options movement. Local Update Our Illinois volunteer Action Teams continue…
Compassion & Choices anunció el día de hoy que nombró a Jill Gordon, directora ejecutiva y cofundadora de KidSnips, la cadena líder de peluquerías para niños en Chicagoland, con $ 4.5 millones de dólares en ventas y más de 90 empleados, para unirse a la mesa directiva de Compassion & Choices. Dicha organización sin fines…
Compassion & Choices today announced it has appointed Jill Gordon, CEO and co-founder of KidSnips, Chicagoland’s leading children’s hair salon chain with $4.5 million in sales and more than 90 employees, to join its board of directors. Compassion & Choices is the oldest, largest, and most active nonprofit working to improve care and expand options…
Compassion & Choices lanzó hoy videos bilingües de Miguel Carrasquillo, fallecido residente de Chicago, para conmemorar el quinto aniversario de su muerte desgarradora por un cáncer cerebral y mostrando la necesidad de presentar y aprobar una ley de ayuda médica para morir en el estado de Illinois. Las leyes de ayuda médica para morir permiten…
Compassion & Choices today released bilingual videos of deceased Chicagoan Miguel Carrasquillo to commemorate the fifth anniversary of his horrific death from brain cancer and demonstrate the need to introduce and pass a medical aid-in-dying law in Illinois. Medical aid-in-dying laws allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live to…
Compassion & Choices llevará a cabo un foro comunitario de preguntas y respuestas con los cineastas del galardonado documental “Bob ‘s Choice”, para Conmemorar Pride Month o Mes del Orgullo. El evento se realizará el jueves 10 de junio, a las 6 p.m. -Tiempo del Este y a las 3 p.m.-Tiempo del Pacifico. La poderosa…
Compassion & Choices today announced its first-ever Illinois Compassion in Nursing Award winners in honor of National Nurses Day on May 6, 2021. In addition to recognizing excellence in patient care, the licensed nurses were also honored for their compassion and support for patients at the end of life and for their commitment to the…
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