Four doctors, the Lutheran Care Center and Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki sued Illinois on August 11 over its radical new assisted suicide law, asking a federal court to block it from taking effect.
The complaint alleges the “End of Life Options” Act (SB 1950), which Governor Jay Robert “JB” Pritzker signed last December, requires medical professionals to cooperate with and facilitate patient suicides in violation of the Hippocratic Oath and their religious beliefs.
The Thomas More Society filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois on the group’s behalf.
“Illinois is forcing faith-based hospitals, nuns, and doctors into supporting the state’s assisted suicide regime,” said Peter Breen, executive vice president and head of litigation at Thomas More Society.
“The law commands Catholic hospitals, religious nursing homes, and faithful doctors to promote suicide’s alleged ‘benefits,’ refer patients to suicide drug prescribers, and then lie on death certificates to cover it up. This immoral scheme flagrantly violates religious liberty and free speech rights, and we intend to stop it.”
The Illinois Senate passed the Act in the dead of night on Halloween last year in a 30-27 vote; the state House had previously approved the bill in a 63-42 vote in May.
The Act legalizes physician-assisted suicide for adults who have a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less to live. It will take effect in September if a court fails to step in and enjoin the Act.
When it first became law, Thomas More Society warned the Act threatens conscience rights by requiring “physicians who object to assisted suicide on moral or religious grounds to refer patients to providers who will participate in ending their lives.”
As a result, Drs. Mary Keen Kirchoff, Michal Porubcin, Michael Hawking, and Brian Couri – all faithful Catholics – are joining the challenge to SB 1950. Any healthcare provider who fails to comply with the law could face fines up to $10,000, license revocation, and criminal prosecution.
“The State’s demand that physicians begin helping patients accomplish assisted suicide violates everything I know as a health care professional, as well as my deeply held Catholic convictions on the dignity of every human life,” said Dr. Mary Keen.
“As a doctor, I have a responsibility to meet my patients’ existential pain with loving accompaniment, not with abandonment.”
Thomas More Society also advised the law forces “religious hospitals and clinics to retain staff who promote assisted death on-site, as long as those staff provide lethal drugs off-site.”
Bishop Paprocki, bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, joined the lawsuit and spoke out forcefully against the law.
“At the heart of the Catholic Church’s healthcare ministry is the healing work of Christ — to stand with the suffering, to comfort the dying, and to affirm the God-given dignity of every human life,” said Bishop Paprocki, adding,
Last year, Illinois became the 12th state to legalize physician-assisted suicide, followed days later by New York, which also legalized the practice. Euthanasia has quickly expanded throughout the West, making it critically important for faithful Christians to know how to respond.
Assisted suicide always violates a person’s right to life. It corrupts the medical profession by transforming physicians into killers. And it opens the door for the “right to die” to become a “duty to die” to save healthcare costs.
The practice is even worse when used to force religious medical professionals to violate their conscience and become complicit in a person’s suicide.
Let’s pray a court quickly intervenes in the Land of Lincoln and stems the rising tide of legalized death.
The lawsuit is Mary Keen Kirchoff et. al. v. Mario Treto, Jr. Any appeal in the case would be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, which hears cases from Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana.
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Related articles and resources:
Understanding God’s Plan for the End of Life
A Godly Perspective on End-of-Life Decisions
Aging Loved Ones and Physician-Assisted Suicide
Answers to Common Questions About Physician-Assisted Suicide
The Problem With Ending It All: A Response to Physician-Assisted Suicide
As Euthanasia Expands in the West, Here’s How Christians Can Respond
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Signs ‘Dangerous’ Euthanasia Bill Into Law
Illinois Senate Passes ‘Tragic’ Bill to Legalize Physician-Assisted Suicide
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