WASHINGTON — National Right to Life today condemned the actions of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker for signing into law a bill that legalizes assisted suicide. This bill puts the lives of medically vulnerable Illinoisans at grave risk.

“Assisted suicide is not health care, and it is not compassion,” said Carol Tobias, president of National Right to Life. “This law abandons people at their most vulnerable moments and sends the message that their lives are not worth living. It sets Illinois on a path where the elderly, those with a disability or struggling with serious illness may find themselves pressured—subtly or overtly—to end their lives prematurely.”

Despite years of warnings from disability advocates, medical professionals, pro-life organizations, and members of the Illinois legislature, Governor Pritzker has chosen to open the door to a policy that has proven dangerous and destructive wherever it has been implemented. 

“Once again, ideological commitments have trumped patient safety,” Tobias continued. “The experience of countries and states that have legalized assisted suicide is clear: safeguards erode, eligibility expands, and the most vulnerable pay the price. Illinois will be no exception.”

The Illinois law was rushed through the legislature under the guise of compassion, but its passage followed a troubling pattern. As in other states, proponents relied on emotional appeals while downplaying or dismissing well-documented risks.

National Right to Life has long warned that legalizing assisted suicide undermines the foundational principle that every human life has value and deserves protection. The organization continues to advocate for policies that expand access to true compassionate care—palliative care, pain management, community support—not laws that facilitate premature death.

 “We grieve for the lives that will be lost because of this misguided law,” Tobias said. “But National Right to Life will continue working with Illinois pro-life advocates, medical professionals, and national partners to ensure that vulnerable patients are not abandoned and that no further erosion of life-affirming protections takes place.”

Founded in 1968, the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC), the federation of affiliates in each of the 50 states, is the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots pro-life organization. National Right to Life works through legislation and education to protect innocent human life from abortion, infanticide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia.