At 17, when her mother died of cancer, Callie Riley wished talking about the end of life wasn’t taboo in her family. Now, as an adult working as the regional advocacy director for Compassion and Choices, a nationwide nonprofit looking “to transform how people die,” she’s made conversations around the topic an everyday occurrence. 

An Oregon native, Riley has travelled across the country to lobby for the autonomy of terminally ill individuals with dire prognoses. One of her most recent victories came in December, when Gov. JB Pritzker signed a “medical aid in dying” bill, legalizing what is sometimes called medically assisted death in Illinois.

The law was introduced by Illinois House Majority Leader and State Rep. Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) last January and will take effect Sept. 12 as the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act. It is the result of the advocacy of “thousands of Illinoisans,” Riley said. 

“Medical aid in dying” is a practice in which a physician provides lethal medication to a terminally ill patient with six or fewer months to live. The patient must be a mentally competent adult capable of ingesting self-administered medication.

More than a month after its contentious legalization, even the terminology surrounding the legislation remains controversial. 

Some representatives from the Catholic Church and the disability community, among other groups, worked to stop the bill as lawmakers in Springfield considered it last year.

“This is assisted suicide, look up the definition in the dictionary,” said Robert Gilligan, the executive director at Catholic Conference of Illinois. “Words have meanings, and some people distort the meanings of words — but we’re talking about suicide.”

Gilligan, who called his organization “the public policy arm” of Catholic bishops in Illinois, believes “life should be protected from conception to natural death.” 

He said he does not believe that providing lethal medication is a legitimate medical practice, adding that doctors are meant to heal people and “nobody’s being cured in this process.”

Though he morally opposes the legislation, Gilligan recognized that it was more effective to appeal to the “common good of society” as he worked to stop it from becoming law. 

Less than two weeks after Pritzker signed the bill, Pope Leo XIV told reporters gathered at his country home outside of Rome that he and Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago had “explicitly” urged the governor to veto it. 

“We were very clear about the necessity to respect the sacredness of life from the very beginning to the very end, and unfortunately, for different reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo said Dec. 23. “I am very disappointed about that.”

Now that the bill has been signed, Gilligan said Illinois Catholics should shift their focus toward caring for the sick and elderly, spreading the word that the church can provide help to those in need.

Illinois’ religious leaders were not the only ones opposed to the legislation, though. 

Those working for Access Living, a Chicago-based advocacy group for people with disabilities, joined forces with Catholics to oppose the legislation, but their qualms with medically assisted death came from a place of practicality rather than spirituality. 

“The issue is not whether or not assisted suicide is moral. It’s not about: ‘If you do this, you’re going to go to Hell,” said Amber Smock, the organization’s vice president of advocacy.

According to Smock, the legalization of medically assisted death could disproportionately affect those with disabilities, who often have fewer options when it comes to their medical care. 

She added that though the Catholic Church “has its own issues,” it was an important partner in the fight against the bill. 

While those who oppose physician-assisted death grapple with the reality that it will take effect in the fall, some local advocates relish in the success of a yearslong journey to garner support in Evanston. 

Second Ward resident Dickelle Fonda remembers facing pushback from City Council in 2019 and 2020 when she and other members of Compassion and Choices Evanston action team sought a city resolution in support of medical aid in dying. 

Though it could only be legalized at a state level, those working with Fonda believed gaining municipal backing could be a potent force. 

“You don’t pass legislation like that overnight,” Fonda said. “It takes a lot of time and a lot of work and a lot of people.”

Fonda said witnessing both of her parents die of terminal illness as a young woman was “painful and traumatic.” She joined the effort to pass the legislation in Illinois because she wants to make sure her sons don’t have to experience what she went through. 

While Fonda recognizes that some people may oppose the legalization on religious grounds, she said she’s seen firsthand why providing options is important. 

“A lot of things are a choice, you pick it or you don’t,” Fonda said. 

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