Cardinal Blase Cupich, nuns join lawsuit to stop Illinois' Medical Aid in Dying law from taking effect

Cardinal Blase Cupich and a group of Catholic nuns have joined a federal lawsuit challenging Illinois' Medical Aid in Dying law, which is set to take effect in just over a week.

Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill into law last year, allowing terminally ill adults to request a prescription from their doctor so they can die on their own terms. It goes into effect on Sept. 12.

Known as "Deb's Law," it requires two doctors to determine a patient has a terminal disease and will die within six months. The medication provided would need to be requested orally and in written documentation and will have to be self-administered. It also requires patients opted into medically assisted dying to have been fully informed of all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care and pain control.

Cupich joined two orders of nuns and an Illinois pharmacist who are seeking to block the law, arguing it's unconstitutional.

The lawsuit argues that healthcare providers who oppose medically assisted dying must still inform patients of the option, help them qualify for lethal drugs and pass them on to someone willing to help them obtain the drugs, and that pharmacists with the same objections will be required to fill the prescriptions.

The cardinal released a statement that read in part, "As Catholics, we oppose efforts to undermine human dignity, by pushing our brothers and sisters toward suicide. We pray that the courts will protect our freedom, to continue advocating and caring for the sick and dying, as our faith demands."

Illinois is the first Midwestern state to pass a medical aid in dying law but as of 2025 it had already been legalized in 12 states and eight more were considering similar legislation.