SPRINGFIELD, Ill.— Illinois residents with terminal illnesses may choose to end their lives on their own terms under a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed Friday.
Legalized medically assisted suicide takes effect in September 2026 to give the Illinois Department of Public Health and other medical participants time to develop “stringent processes and protections” for implementing the provision, according to the Democratic governor’s office.
It is also known as “Deb’s Law,” honoring Deb Robertson, a lifelong resident of the state living with a rare terminal illness who has pushed for the measure’s approval and testified to the suffering of people and their families wanting the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
“This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy,” Pritzker said after signing the measure in Chicago.
Sponsoring Sen. Linda Holmes, a suburban Chicago Democrat, said both her parents died of cancer.
The Illinois House approved the measure 63-42 in late May at the end of the legislative spring session. The Senate didn’t take it up until October, when it was approved 30-27. In both chambers, there were prominent Democratic “no” votes.
“Assisted suicide plunges Illinoisans with disabilities and other vulnerable people into conversations about death, instead of the care and support they deserve from their medical teams,” said Matt Valliere, the group’s president and CEO.
Deb Robertson, the retired social worker from suburban Chicago who gave a name to the law, thanked Pritzker for signing the law providing “the full range of end-of-life options.”
Interesting Tidbit
There are twelve states (now) that allow assisted suicide. They are California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.
Ten of these states are headed by Democrat Governors. Two have Republican governors, Montana and Vermont.
Montana’s assisted suicide law was implemented by the Montana Supreme Court in 2009. Republican Governor Greg Gianforte has led several efforts to repeal the law—each unsuccessful so far.
Vermont’s previous governor is Peter Shumlin, a Democrat. He signed into law the Aid in Dying Bill in 2013.
Fulcrum7 opposes this practice on the basis that the Bible does not support suicide. We recently wrote about this deadly practice in Canada.
Here’s the bottom line: autonomy is real, but limited. You don’t choose your birth, and you don’t choose the length of your days. That’s in God’s hands. When a nation makes autonomy absolute—when it bows to it as an idol—there’s no logical stopping point. If death on demand is a “right,” then eventually everyone qualifies.
This is what’s unfolding in America. Not compassion. Not dignity. Just the machinery of a society convinced that killing is caring.
We believe Seventh-day Adventist Christians need to find their voice on this issue.
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“Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?” (Proverbs 24:11-12).