Overview
- Gov. JB Pritzker said he was initially undecided and was persuaded by testimony from terminally ill residents before signing the bill on Dec. 12.
- Eligible patients must be 18 or older, mentally competent, diagnosed by two physicians with a prognosis of six months or less, and make both oral and written requests themselves after being informed of hospice and palliative alternatives.
- The law allows patient self-administration of prescribed life-ending medication and does not permit euthanasia or practitioner-administered death.
- The Illinois Department of Public Health pledged to implement the program with strong safeguards, transparency and detailed reporting systems to guide providers and protect patients.
- The measure passed narrowly in the General Assembly (House 63–42; Senate 30–27), and Illinois becomes the first state in the Midwest to authorize medical aid in dying.