(The Center Square) – An advocacy group is urging lawmakers to make Illinois a medical-aid-in-dying state.
The Illinois End of Life Options Coalition recently gathered at the capitol in Springfield to inform lawmakers about the need for them to pass medical-aid-in-dying legislation.
The group said the procedure is called medical aid in dying and not assisted suicide, as it is commonly known.
Ten states have legalized medical aid in dying, with Oregon being the first in 1997. More are considering legislation this year.
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1997 encouraged individual states to engage in an “earnest and profound debate about the morality, legality, and practicality of” medical aid in dying to relieve unbearable pain and suffering.
A member of the coalition, Suzie Flack, lost her son to cancer and would like to see a gentle dying option.
“I am hoping to carry on and tell his story and to reach people so they can understand that an option like this does provide a lot of comfort to terminally ill individuals,” Flack said.
Jon Schweppe, policy director with the American Principles Project, said states shouldn’t be giving their residents the option.
“That really puts folks in a precarious situation where they think the noble thing to do is to choose to die and I think that’s wrong and it’s wrong to put families in that circumstance of having that choice,” Schweppe said.
Schweppe adds that the medical field should be about preserving and protecting life and doing no harm, and “this is the opposite of that.”
The coalition points to an Impact Research poll that showed seven out of 10 Illinois likely voters want the Illinois General Assembly to pass medical-aid-in-dying legislation.
The national suicide and crisis line is 988. They provide free and confidential support for people in distress, along with prevention and crisis resources.