Illinois Assisted Suicide Bill SB 3499 is a more permissive bill.

By Alex Schadenberg

Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

I have recently written how most of the assisted suicide bills are "bait and switch" bills, meaning, they are intentionally written in a "tighter" manner with the intention of passing the bill and expanding it later.

Illinois Assisted Suicide Bill SB 3499 is not a "tightly" worded bill, but even the provisions in the bill, once legalized, will soon be pushed for further expansion.

Almost all assisted suicide bills have employed a 15-day waiting period. SB 3499 has a 5-day waiting period that can be waived if the assessor considers the person to be nearing death.

Almost all assisted suicide bills require that a person be a resident of the State. Bill SB 3499 also requires that a person be a resident of Illinois, but the bill then has 11 statutes explaining how a person can establish themselves as being an Illinois resident. It doesn't take very long to obtain an Illinois drivers license.

The typical concerns with assisted suicide bills remain part of Bill SB 3499. For instance, a person with questionable competency may be referred for a mental health capacity test, but the licensed mental health professional only needs to determine if the person is mentally capable. A person can be determined to be mentally capable and at the same time be depressed and feeling hopeless.

The assisted suicide lobby claims that no slippery slope exists, yet, in the past few years existing assisted suicide laws have been expanded by: reducing or eliminating waiting periods, allowing non-doctors to participate in assisted suicide, allowing assisted suicide approvals by tele-health, expanding the meaning of terminal illness and removing state residency requirements.

Assisted suicide law expansion bills have been passed in California (2021), Hawai'i (2023), Oregon (2019, 2023), Vermont (2022, 2023) and Washington State (2023).

Illinois needs to reject assisted suicide Bill SB 3499 and commit to a caring culture.

More resource articles on this topic:

·                     The assisted suicide lobby wants to legalize assisted suicide in your state (Link)

·                     The Nationalization of assisted suicide in America (Link).

·                     Minnesota assisted suicide bill is lethally deceptive (Link). 

·                     EPC - USA statement to the New York legislature (Link).

·                     The assisted suicide lobby pass restrictive bills and expand them later (Link).