A plan to let terminally ill people end their own lives stalled in the final hours of the spring legislative session. | Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times
By George Wieb | Chicago Sun*Times
SPRINGFIELD — After fierce pushback and a narrow vote of support in the Illinois House of Representatives, lawmakers ended their spring session without approving a bill that would let terminally ill people end their own lives.
The House had approved the measure Thursday with just three votes to spare to get it passed. But shortly after that vote, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, issued a rare statement, condemning the plan as “assisted suicide.”
State Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, the lead sponsor of the measure, said the Senate ran out of time this legislative session to get the bill over the finish line.
It could still be called for a vote at a later date.
The bill drew pushback from several groups, including the Catholic church.
It remains unclear where Democratic Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker stands on the proposal. A spokesman for Pritzker said he would only comment on the bill if it landed on his desk.
Under the legislation, patients with a prognosis of six months to live or less would be able to obtain a prescription for life-ending medication they would have to administer themselves.
More here.
Related: “WATCH: Assisted suicide legislation stashed in food preparation bill”
