Medical aid in dying was authorized in Illinois 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.
The bill was introduced during the 2025 legislative session by House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel and Assistant Senate Majority Leader Linda Holmes. The legislation is summarized here.
In a 2023 poll, 71% of likely Illinois voters supported this compassionate legislation, and the majority of Illinois physicians also support this option.
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.
Threats to the law: A House bill (HB4381) that would repeal IL’s End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act was introduced on January 12, 2026 and referred to the House Rules Committee.
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Legislation to allow medical aid in dying, an option for mentally capable, terminally ill adults to peacefully end unbearable suffering, is supported by a wide majority of Illinois voters, regardless of political affiliation, disability, race, gender identity, age or religion.
Compassion & Choices CEO Kim Callinan writes in an opinion piece for the Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette, “As baby boomers age, more and more people are having to navigate the onset of a serious diagnosis or plan for the inevitable end for themselves or a loved one. Unfortunately, a failure to plan is only the tip of…
Illinois advocate Jill Weinberg gravitated to the end-of-life choice movement for both professional and personal reasons. A lawyer who works in research at the American Bar Foundation and as a sociology professor at DePaul University in Chicago, her areas of focus are choice and consent in everyday life. And last September, Weinberg’s husband, Davin, died…
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