“When you lose someone you love,
Your life becomes strange,
The ground beneath you becomes fragile,
Your thoughts make your eyes unsure;
“For Grief” by John O’Donohue
This is the first action alert I have ever started with a poem, but I wanted to drive home the point that each and every one of us will one day die. … And that is why I am begging you to get involved and stop SB 9, a bill to legalize assisted suicide in Illinois.
Please call and email your Illinois state senator today. This bill is about to go to the full Senate for a vote.
Death is a sacred thing. The day that each of us will die has been appointed by God – and no man has the right to take his own life. No legislature has the right to decree that a person may take their own life, no matter how hard life has become, no matter how vulnerable or messy life seems to be.
Legalizing assisted suicide is fundamentally unjust. It also endangers marginalized communities, including the elderly and the disabled. These individuals often encounter biases and obstacles within our healthcare system, making them susceptible to coercion and abuse. The so-called “choice” to end one’s life can become a perceived duty, especially when societal and familial pressures suggest an elderly parent or handicapped child has become “burdensome.”
But the potential for abuse will not stop there. Disability rights advocates have voiced strong opposition to these bills because they can be weaponized against all manner of vulnerable patients: a young woman with an eating disorder; a mom with breast cancer; a homeless person with a mental illness.
Once Illinois legalizes the unthinkable – that which has been done only under tyrannical governments like Nazi Germany – there will be no line that cannot be crossed.
We must stop SB 9. Please call and email your state senator today and ask them to vote NO! on SB 9. Please call and email Senate leadership and ask them to stop SB 9.
In particular, Senate President Pro Tempore Bill Cunningham has the influence to stop SB 9. He needs to go to the mat for his voters and for Illinois families.
Religious communities across Illinois are united in their opposition to SB 9. There are so many other better options, such as increasing access to innovative treatments (Right to Try 2.0), enhancing palliative care, and investing in increased healthcare access.
Your voice is crucial in this pivotal moment.
Please call and email your Illinois state senator today. This bill will soon be headed to the senate floor.