The Illinois Senate Executive Committee today approved a bill that would allow terminally ill adults the option to request a doctor’s prescription for medication they can decide to take to die peacefully by a vote of 8-3 The End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (SB9) now moves to the Senate floor.
The emotional hearing opened with testimony from Assistant Majority Leader Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) who also sponsors the bill. She said only mentally capable terminally-ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live are eligible under the law. The patients must also have the capacity to self-administer the medication.
“Nobody wants to end their lives,” said Sen Holmes, who lives with multiple sclerosis and whose parents suffered before their deaths from cancer. “They just don’t want to suffer.”
Suzy Flack, from Naperville, testified about the death of her only son, Andrew ‘Drew’ Flack, who died peacefully at 34 years old from colorectal cancer after using the End of Life Option Act in California. Andrew, a special education teacher, spent his last months of life advocating for medical aid in dying by recording a podcast and recording a video.
Flack recalled that afternoon when Andrew took the medical aid in dying medication on November 16, 2022, as the sun set in Andrew’s home in Southern California.
“Within two minutes my son was snoring,” Flack said. “It was music to my ears. He took his final breath two hours later. His death was as beautiful as [the day] of his birth.”
Deb Robertson at her home in Lombard
The compassionate bill known as “Deb’s Bill’ is named after Deb Robertson, a 66-year-old Lombard woman who is dying of a rare, aggressive, and terminal cancer, and a member of the Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition. As a result of her declining health, Deb was unable to testify today as she did in February because she is undergoing experimental treatment.
“I love my life, I don’t want to die. I love my family but I am still going to die,” Robertson testified in February. “When the time comes, I pray this committee and others will allow me this option..to die peacefully and on my own terms.”
Diana Barnard MD, a family practice physician from Vermont who prescribes medical aid in dying medication to dying Vermonters, spoke about her patients’ peaceful deaths.
“Patients become unconscious and go into a deep and peaceful sleep within minutes,” she said. “They remain in a peaceful sleep and they die within a couple of hours. These laws are working very well, as intended without abuse and coercion.”
Supporters of ‘Deb’s Bill’ packed the hearing today in Springfield.
“We want people living with a terminal diagnosis to have the full range of options available at the end of their lives,” said Khadine Bennett, Director of Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs, ACLU of Illinois
Seven out of 10 Illinois likely voters (71%) want the Illinois legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation, according to a February 2023 Impact Research poll. This majority spans the demographic, political, racial, and religious spectrums, including 87% of Democratic voters, 86% of Latino voters, 73% of voters living with disabilities, 69% of Independent, African American/Black, White, and Catholic voters, 58% of non-Catholic Christians and 50% of Republican voters. In contrast, fewer than one in five Illinois voters (17%) oppose medical aid in dying.
Eleven jurisdictions have authorized medical aid in dying, including California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Mexico, New Jersey, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington, as well as Washington, D.C. Collectively, these 10 jurisdictions represent one out of five U.S. residents (22%) and have decades of combined experience successfully implementing this medical practice, starting with Oregon in 1997.
About the Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition
The Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition is a statewide partnership dedicated to raising both awareness and support across Illinois for medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults. The coalition’s goal is to authorize medical aid in dying and ensure that terminally ill people who want it can access it. The coalition’s partners include ACLU Illinois, Compassion & Choices Action Network Illinois, and Final Options Illinois. Learn more about their work at illinoisoptions.org
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