Contact: Sebastian Nalls
PHONE: 773-677-0042
“Legalizing Physician-Assisted Suicide Threatens People with Disabilities”
CHICAGO, IL — In the early morning hours of October 31, the Illinois Senate passed SB1950, the assisted suicide bill, with the bare minimum votes. Access Living and disability advocates across the state are outraged. Despite years and recent months of advocacy, testimony, and warnings from the disability community, lawmakers have chosen to ignore our voices and the lived experience of people with disabilities.
Access Living calls on Governor JB Pritzker to veto this dangerous bill and protect the lives of people with disabilities and vulnerable Illinoisans.
Access Living consumers, the majority of whom are Black, brown, low-income, rely on Medicaid and Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) to live independently, will endure the brunt of this harmful legislation. In Oregon, where assisted suicide is legal, state data reflects that most users of assisted suicide are enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare. These individuals already experience bias, neglect, and health inequalities. Illinois’ bill does not offer freedom; it harms people with disabilities.
“Disabled people have faced a long history of the devaluation of our lives by medical professionals, and the consequent disparities in accessing healthcare. The passage of this legislation sets a dangerous precedent for Illinoisians with disabilities, particularly in the same moment we are experiencing cuts to Medicaid and access to healthcare,” said Karen Tamley, President & CEO of Access Living. “Legalizing physician-assisted suicide in Illinois will place our community at the risk of the subtle but dangerous pressure to end our lives rather than get the care we need.”
The passage of SB1950 comes amid the threat of massive federal Medicaid cuts – cuts that will strip healthcare and home supports from hundreds of thousands of Illinoisans. Together, these measures create the perfect storm: people with disabilities losing access to vital, life sustaining care, while being offered a lethal prescription as a so-called ‘choice.’
“This bill will not expand compassion,” said Vice President of Advocacy Amber Smock. “It will create despair. When legislators ignore the deep inequities in our healthcare system and pass a bill like this, they send a chilling message: death is easier to fund than life with dignity.”
Access Living knows Illinoisans would be better served by expanded access to healthcare and home and community-based services, disability-friendly palliative care, pain management, and the elimination of systemic barriers that contribute to worsening health.
Access Living calls on Governor Pritzker to listen to the lived experience of disabled people and veto this dangerous bill when it comes to his desk for signature.
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Established in 1980, Access Living is a center of service, advocacy, and social change for people with disabilities led and run by people with disabilities. We envision a world free from barriers and discrimination – where disability is a respected and natural part of the human experience and people with disabilities are included and valued. For more information, visit www.accessliving.org