Nine Illinois state senators have signed on as co-sponsors of an assisted suicide bill (SB 3499). First introduced in February, the bill establishes qualifications and guidelines for terminally ill patients to end their lives. The latest senator joined the list Nov. 11. After several procedural moves, the bill now rests with the assignments committee. The General Assembly has a lame duck session that was scheduled to begin Jan. 2 that has now been condensed down to run from Jan 4-7, 2025.
In an email prior to Christmas, Bob Vanden Bosch, executive director of Concerned Christian Ministries, wrote about a conversation he’d just had with a member of the General Assembly who is leaning towards voting for the bill. Vanden Bosch reported, “He pointed out that some people have no desire to have a religious answer. I pointed out to him that it is immoral for a non-religious person to take a human life as it is for a religious person.”
Vanden Bosch requested Christians pray about the bill “because there is a serious spiritual battle going on Illinois over the value of human life. The devil wants to convince people to take their own lives rather than think about being prepared to meet their Maker.”
Should it advance and pass in the House and Senate, the bill is currently written to take effect six months after becoming law. Ten states have legalized medical-aid-in-dying laws.
You can read the full text of the bill, titled the End of Life Options Act, on the Illinois General Assembly’s website.
January 19 is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday in the Southern Baptist Convention. Download a free prayer guide and bulletin insert from the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.