Illinois’ Assisted Suicide Law Takes Effect Despite Court Challenges

By Bridget Palm, WRTL Fall 2026 Intern

On September 12, 2026, Illinois’ assisted suicide law took effect, nine months after Governor Pritzker signed it into law, despite last-minute attempts to stop it in federal court.

On September 10, a federal judge refused to block the law with a preliminary injunction sought by disability rights groups, physicians, and disabled Illinoisans. The following day – in a separate lawsuit brought by Cardinal Blase Cupich, two orders of Catholic nuns, and an Illinois pharmacist – another judge issued a narrow, agreed-upon order, exempting only those specific plaintiffs from certain provisions of the law while their case proceeds. It does not block the law statewide.

So tragically, Illinois’ assisted suicide law took effect for the general public as scheduled on September 12.

This law makes Illinois the first state in the Midwest to legalize assisted suicide. The law, known as the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLA) or “Deb’s Law,” allows assisted suicide for terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less to live.

The fact that this law is now in effect is devastating news for those with disabilities, the elderly, and those vulnerable to coercion and abuse.

This might not seem relevant to Wisconsinites, but it truly is. Here is what Wisconsinites need to know:

1.) Legalized assisted suicide never remains contained. Canada, California, Vermont, Colorado, New Jersey, and other states that legalized assisted suicide have tried or succeeded in removing many of the so-called “safeguards.”

2.) The law will likely affect other states surrounding Illinois. One of the first safeguards dropped is the residency requirements, meaning that someday Wisconsin residents could obtain these lethal drugs from Illinois.

3.) We must remain vigilant about attempts to legalize assisted suicide here in Wisconsin. There have been numerous attempts in the last decades to legalize assisted suicide in the Badger State. While we have been successful in blocking this harmful legislation thus far, Illinois’ law taking effect this month proves that we cannot be complacent.

The cruel reality of assisted suicide is that it targets those who most need care and compassion. Assisted suicide is not medical treatment; it is state-sanctioned medical discrimination, withholding suicide prevention from the most vulnerable among us.