A federal judge has declined to block Illinois’ new medical aid-in-dying law, allowing the measure to take effect tomorrow (Saturday, Sept. 12th).
The law allows terminally ill adults with less than six months to live to request life-ending medication from a physician. Two doctors must confirm the terminal diagnosis, and patients must be mentally capable of making the decision, able to administer the medication themselves and found not to be under coercion.
Doctors are prohibited from raising the option unless a patient first asks about it, and physicians are not required to participate.
A group of disability rights advocates, patients and a physician sued to stop the law, arguing it could result in discrimination against people with disabilities and weaken protections in the doctor-patient relationship.
But U.S. District Judge John Tharp ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated they would suffer irreparable harm if the law takes effect. He said arguments that doctors would abandon their existing responsibilities to patients were speculative.
The measure, signed by Governor JB Pritzker in December, makes Illinois the first Midwestern state to legalize medical aid in dying for terminally ill patients.
Separate legal challenges involving religiously affiliated healthcare providers remain pending. In one case, a temporary restraining order currently exempts the plaintiffs from certain requirements while a related case is considered by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The plaintiffs in Thursday’s ruling have been given 30 days to argue why their lawsuit should not be dismissed entirely.