(The Center Square) – Another attempt is being made to make medically-assisted suicide legal in Illinois.
The Illinois End of Life Options Coalition is praising lawmakers who have introduced legislation that would allow medical aid-in-dying in Illinois. The group has emphasized that the practice is called medical aid-in-dying and not assisted suicide.
The End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act would allow terminally ill adults to have the option to get prescription medication to end their life.
“If they get a diagnostic exam from a doctor who tells them they have less than six months to live, they have the option of requesting a prescription that they can take themselves,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senate Assistant Majority Leader Linda Holmes, D-Aurora.
Holmes added that there are guardrails in place, including getting a second opinion and if either doctor feels that the person is not capable of making the decision, the person must also see a mental health expert.
Ten states have authorized medical aid-in-dying, with 19 other states considering similar measures this spring.