As American founding father Benjamin Franklin observed “nothing in this world is certain, except death and taxes.”
Indeed, the annual tax deadline looms. But some Evanstonians are questioning whether more certainty in death should be afforded to a small segment of the population.
“People know they are going to die someday. And they don’t want to die in a hospital,” said Fay Clayton, a local attorney and a volunteer with Compassion & Choices, an organization that advocates for end-of-life care options. “They want to be with their loved ones,” she added, and “to die as painlessly as possible.”
Evanston’s state legislators, Sen. Laura Fine and Rep. Robyn Gabel concur. Both are leading the charge for the Illinois End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, SB 9, and its identical companion, HB 1328.
Medical aid in dying
If the bill is enacted into law, Illinois would join ten states and the District of Columbia in allowing doctors to provide medical aid in dying (MAiD), a practice sometimes referred to as euthanasia or “physician-assisted suicide.” Proponents object to that phraseology, arguing that terminal illnesses cause these deaths, not the acts of doctors or patients.
Long legal in several European countries, Oregon was the first state to allow the procedure, which it did through a successful 1994 ballot initiative. According to the nonprofit Death with Dignity, a dozen other states are also considering its legalization, validating some advocates’ view that their push is more than a cause; it is a “movement.”
That movement has spawned myriad groups such as the Final Exit Network and the Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalitio; and a rabbit hole of reports, news articles, podcasts and documentaries.
Clayton recommended the 2011 movie How to Die In Oregon and a six-part Amazon Prime docuseries Take Me Out Feet First that aired last year. Both offer intimate looks at people confronting terminal illnesses. Although it is unsettling to watch people die, the moving stories also celebrate well-lived lives.
Modeled after the Oregon law, Illinois’ legislative proposal is not for everyone for at least two reasons: it restricts eligibility and some find the practice it authorizes ethically or religiously fraught.
One must have a prognosis of six months or less to live, see two separate doctors, demonstrate mental soundness, be able to self-administer the lethal cocktail, which contains Diazepam, Digoxin, morphine and Amitriptyline, and make two requests for it five days apart.
Per a report by Compassion and Choices, those who opted for MAiD comprise a tiny fraction of the deaths in the jurisdictions where it is legal, less than 1%.
The law states physicians who object to the idea of facilitating a patient’s death are under no obligation to prescribe the medication.
Legislative perspectives
“Dying is not an easy prospect,” said state Rep. Gabel, the House Majority Leader. “There should be a way to help people make it through that process easier.”
Gabel emphasized that the bill includes “very strict parameters,” that there have been “no cases of abuse” in the states that already have it, and that “not everybody takes it who obtains it.”
Nearly four in ten — “up to 38%” — of the people who are granted the lethal prescription never take it, according to the Compassion and Choices’ report. Terminally ill patients find “peace of mind” in knowing they could end their suffering if it became unbearable, proponents argue, as in having a semblance of control over the otherwise uncontrollable.
In a statement, state Sen. Fine, a chief co-sponsor of SB 9 underscored Gabel’s comments. “Medical aid in dying, like all end-of-life options, is a personal and carefully planned decision for terminally ill patients,” adding that the measure is “crafted to protect a patient’s dignity.”
Evanston residents’ testimony
In late February, several politically active Evanstonians ventured to Chicago’s Bilandic Building to share their perspectives on the proposal in a packed room during the first public hearing on the bill.
One was mayoral candidate Jeff Boarini, who backs SB 9. Boarini said losing his beloved wife to kidney cancer several years ago was the “hardest thing” he has ever gone through.
As her death became imminent, “She was miserable. She was ready to die,” he said. “She begged her doctor, ‘Was there something she could take to end this?’”
Her doctor said “No.”
Boarini’s wife died a while later in hospice after losing her ability to speak. The couple was denied a proper goodbye, he said, imploring legislators to spare others the suffering he and his wife endured in her final days.
Meanwhile, former mayoral aspirant Sebastian Nalls outlined a litany of concerns about how the legislation might affect vulnerable populations.
A policy analyst for Access Living, a Chicago-based disability-focused organization that mobilized opponents against the bill, Nalls’ group fears a “slippery slope” to abuse.
“People with disabilities, particularly Black, Brown, and poor disabled people experience health care discrimination that limits access to proper treatment and care,” Nalls said. MAiD “will normalize death as a solution to disability, rather than improving long-term care and accessibility, especially for racially marginalized citizens,” he said.
Nalls also suggested that some people would engage in “doctor shopping” until they find a physician to help them die prematurely.
Other bill opponents consider the practice immoral and violative of the Hippocratic Oath. They would prefer greater investments in hospice and palliative care instead.
A representative of the state’s American Civil Liberties Union, which supports the passage of SB 9, said amendments could be made to the bill’s text, but only if opponents provide more specificity about which safeguards need strengthening.
Bill’s prospects
Tense relations between the Trump White House and state governments — especially those like Illinois with Democratic governors — raise questions about what issues legislators should prioritize. But polling indicates that solid majorities of Illinoisans favor MAiD, regardless of race, religion or partisanship.
For advocates like Clayton, the issue boils down to a fundamental right — a “personal choice,” she said.
She has known people who “suffered hideously at the end,” and believes terminal patients ought to be able to decide the time and place of their death and to make it “as beautiful as it can be.”
A 78-year-old, Clayton has communicated her wishes with her family. If MAiD is approved in Illinois and she meets the criteria, she would opt for “a little farewell party,” where, in the company of friends and family, she could consume the deadly cocktail and drift off to sleep, never to reawaken.
Clayton does not want “to become a medical experiment,” she said. “I don’t want to go out kicking and screaming, plugged into machines. I really don’t.”
Evanston’s state legislators back medical aid in dying bill is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston’s most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
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March 16, 2025 at 06:58PM
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