Illinois’ Assisted Suicide Law Preys On The Disabled, Lawsuit Alleges

A new law is under fire for allegedly making it easier for doctors to let disabled patients kill themselves.

A physician, two disabled patients, and multiple advocacy groups filed a lawsuit against Illinois over the state’s incoming assisted suicide law, Capitol News Illinois reported Tuesday. The End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLA) lacks the necessary “guard rails” to protect disabled patients from being discriminated against by physicians, according to the June 11 lawsuit.

“For people with disabilities overall, I don’t think … a safe bet, because just like me, anybody could have an infection and fall prey to doctors who are not as scrupulous as others,”plaintiff Ebony Payne, a quadriplegic from Chicago said. “Many people who can’t or don’t have these opportunities to speak up for themselves … opefully I do a well enough job to help their voice be heard, especially in situations like this.”

“The perception that Ebony is suffering every day, that she is better off dead, is discrimination,” attorney Michael Bien said. “The idea that we can categorize people and say certain people should be eligible for suicide and other people are not is discrimination.”

Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzkersigned EOLA in December. It permits physicians to prescribe patients lethal pills they can self-administer, and will be effective Sept. 12 unless it is struck down in court.

The EOLA could allow medical professionals to avoid providing patients rehab treatment, lacks objective parameters for prescribing the pills, and violates the liberty of physicians who want to follow the Hippocratic Oath., according to the lawsuit.

The Illinois Department of Public Health declined to comment on the pending litigation.

The Institute for Patients’ Rights (IPR), a plaintiff on the Illinois case, filed another lawsuit against New York the same day over a similar law that will take effect Aug. 5.

“Every person has inestimable dignity, regardless of their health or disability status. Assisted suicide laws send a message from the state, that some people are disposable, aren’t worth the healthcare dollars, better off dead. It’s not only false, it’s unAmerican ,” an IPR spokesperson told the DCNF. “The 🇺🇸US has been exceptional in rejecting public policies like this. We should reject this one too.”

“These laws are an assault on equality by creating a two-tiered system of medicine wherein most people get suicide prevention, but some people with life-threatening disabilities get suicide help,” the spokesperson said. “These laws upend millennia of medical ethics to do no harm, while shockingly have no oversight or consequences for bad actors.”

Advocates for assisted suicide access doubt such laws discriminate against the disabled, Capitol News Illinois reported.

“Each law authorizing medical aid in dying states clearly and unequivocally that disability alone does not automatically qualify or disqualify someone for access to this healthcare option,” Compassion & Choices litigation director Veronica Darling stated. “These laws are not about discrimination, they are about compassion, dignity, and respecting the healthcare choices of terminally ill adults when it matters most.”

Thirteen states and Washington, DC, legalized assisted suicide, according to the pro-assisted suicide access advocacy group’s website.

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