The bishop Thomas Paprocki, of the diocese of Springfield (Illinois, USA), publicly denounced the approval of a pro-euthanasia bill by the state Senate, which occurred in the early hours of October 31, a day when—according to his words—“modern culture glorifies death and evil.”
“It is very appropriate that the forces of the culture of death in the Illinois General Assembly approved physician-assisted suicide on October 31—a date that has culturally become synonymous with glorifying death and evil,” the prelate stated. “It is also ironic that these pro-death legislators did so under the cover of darkness, at 2:54 a.m.”
The text, known as the “End of Life Options for Terminal Patients Act” (SB 1950), was approved by a narrow margin of 30 votes in favor and 27 against. According to information gathered by LifeSiteNews, the Illinois Senate has a Democratic majority (40-19), and the House of Representatives had already approved the measure in May with 78 Democratic votes against 40 Republican ones.
Criticism from the bishops and the pro-life movement
The initiative now goes to the desk of Governor J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat and openly pro-abortion, who is expected to sign the law within the next 60 days, making Illinois the twelfth U.S. state to allow assisted suicide.
The Illinois Catholic Conference and the Patients Rights Action Fund have asked the governor to veto the law, warning that it “puts the State on a slippery slope that endangers the poor, the disabled, and the most vulnerable.”
In previous statements, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, also rejected the proposal: “It is not compassionate to help someone take their own life,” he affirmed.
What the law establishes
The legal text requires physicians to inform patients with a life expectancy of less than six months about all “appropriate end-of-life care options”: palliative care, pain management, hospice care, and now, the possibility of requesting assisted death.
The bill also requires that the patient make their request verbally and in writing, and that they repeat it verbally at least five days later, in order to “ensure that the decision is voluntary and informed.” However, Catholic organizations and life advocates warn that these procedures do not truly protect patients from coercion or medical abandonment.
“Suicide is not dying with dignity”
Bishop Paprocki emphasized that the doctrine of the Catholic Church condemns all forms of suicide or euthanasia, recalling the words of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 2324): “Intentional euthanasia, whatever its forms or motives, is murder. It is gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator.”
“Make no mistake: taking one’s life is not dying with dignity. Physicians take an oath to do no harm, but now they will be able to prescribe death,” the bishop warned. “Assisted suicide undermines the value of all human life, especially that of the vulnerable, the poor, and the disabled.”
“Illinois must offer hope, not death”
Finally, the prelate called on the faithful to pray for the conversion of the authorities and for the defense of life in the state. “Illinois should be a state that offers compassion, care, and hope—not death—as a response to human suffering,” he concluded.