Gov. JB Pritzker signs controversial Illinois medical aid-in-dying law amid strong debate and opposition

Jeremy Gorner and Olivia Olander, Chicago Tribune on Dec 12, 2025

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SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed into law a measure that would allow doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives after the controversial bill barely cleared the Senate during the fall legislative session, where one skeptic said it could bring “a culture of death” to Illinois.

Illinois now joins at least 10 other states, among them California, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, as well as Washington, D.C., in allowing medical aid in dying.

In a statement Friday morning, the governor said he was moved by supporters’ “dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.”

“Today, Illinois honors their strength and courage by enacting legislation that enables patients faced with debilitating terminal illnesses to make a decision, in consultation with a doctor, that helps them avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives,” he said in a statement.

Pritzker’s signature ends the impassioned debate over a measure that took more than a year and multiple legislative sessions to pass through both chambers of the General Assembly amid high emotions for people on both sides of the issue — those who believe individuals on the verge of death should have the autonomy to choose whether they live or die and those who feel it’s immoral to give someone the option to take their own life.

Pritzker, who is starting to campaign for his third term and is mulling a 2028 presidential bid, even disclosed to reporters recently that he raised the issue during his November meeting with Pope Leo XIV, acknowledging there may be things the governor and Chicago-born pope “disagree about.”

The legislation passed the Senate on the last day of the spring session by a 30-27 margin — one vote shy of failing on the Senate floor — and five months after narrowly passing the House by a 63-42 vote.

While it was opposed by groups like the Catholic Conference of Illinois and disability rights activists who have argued that allowing terminally ill people to end their lives could lead to coercion, discrimination and abuse, the measure had the backing of groups like the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois and Compassion and Choices Action Network.

“This is a choice. If you are opposed to it, whether the reason is moral, religious, you just don’t like the idea, fine. I would never tell you you should choose this option,” state Sen. Linda Holmes, a Democrat from Aurora and the main Senate sponsor of the legislation, said during floor debate. “What I’m saying is ‘why? Why?’ If I am facing an illness where I am going to die in pain, do you think you should tell me I don’t have the option to alleviate that pain?”

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