SPRINGFIELD - The bill passed early at 2:54 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, a timing Bishop Paprocki described as “under the cloud of darkness.” In a statement released shortly after the vote, Paprocki criticized the measure and its proponents, calling it an endorsement of what he termed a “culture of death.”
“It is quite fitting that the forces of the culture of death in the Illinois General Assembly passed physician-assisted suicide on October 31 — a day that, culturally, has become synonymous with glorifying death and evil,” Paprocki said. He emphasized that “killing oneself is not dying with dignity” and expressed concern that the legislation contradicts the medical oath to “do no harm,” noting that doctors would now be authorized to “prescribe death.”
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Paprocki also highlighted potential risks associated with the bill, citing “documented cases of patients being denied treatment and instead offered life-ending drugs,” and warning that individuals could be “coerced into taking the lethal drug.” He argued that physician-assisted suicide “undermines the value of each person, especially the vulnerable, the poor, and those with disabilities.”
The bishop concluded his statement by urging prayers for Gov. Pritzker to reject the legislation, advocating instead for a state approach that offers “compassion, care, and hope—not death—as the answer to human suffering.”
