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Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, two orders of Catholic nuns, and an Illinois pharmacist sued Illinois Sept. 3 over the state\u2019s physician-assisted suicide law, which permits physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide.<\/p>\n
In their lawsuit, the individuals and religious orders \u2014 the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Chicago Province of the Little Sisters of the Poor<\/a> \u2014 argued the law, which is set to take effect Sept. 12, would require them to facilitate such deaths for their patients in violation of their faith.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Gospel calls us to uphold the inviolable dignity and worth of the human person, from life\u2019s first moment to its natural end,\u201d Cardinal Cupich said in a statement. \u201cAs 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporters of legalizing physician-assisted suicide argue the practice offers autonomy to suffering or terminally ill individuals in their final days, but opponents argue legalizing the practice disregards the dignity of human life and leaves those who are ill or dying vulnerable to coercion, among other concerns.<\/p>\n The Catechism of the Catholic Church specifically condemns the practice of euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide as \u201cmorally unacceptable\u201d and a violation of the Fifth Commandment, \u201cYou shall not kill.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement issued Dec. 12 when he signed the law, Gov. JB Pritzker, D-Ill., argued the practice offers \u201cfreedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n But in a Sept. 3 statement, Mother Julie Marie, mother provincial of the Chicago Province of the Little Sisters of the Poor, said, \u201cThe elderly people who come to our homes are looking for a place where they will be cherished and cared for until natural death.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey should be free to choose that kind of care without having assisted suicide inserted into it by the state,\u201d she said. \u201cWe simply want to continue giving them the loving home they came to us for.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement regarding the lawsuit, Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the healthcare providers, argued, \u201cThe state should stop trying to make Catholic nuns help patients kill themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is awful for Illinois to be forcing every sick and dying person within its borders to hear its message of suicide at their lowest moment \u2014 regardless of whether they want it or not. Patients deserve the freedom to seek healing, hope, and accompaniment without the government forcing suicide into the conversation,\u201d Rienzi said. \u201cThe Constitution protects that freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n The Illinois law was also previously temporarily blocked by a federal judge for specific \u201cCatholic health care entities\u201d under the authority of Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki of Springfield, four Catholic doctors and Lutheran Care Center, a nursing home in south-central Illinois, in response to a separate lawsuit.<\/p>\n A federal judge in July also temporarily shielded four orders of women religious and Catholic healthcare ministries from enforcement of a similar New York state law allowing physicians to aid terminally ill adults in dying by suicide.<\/p>\n The Catholic entities in the Empire State \u2014 the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne, the Missionary Sisters of St. Benedict and the Little Sisters of the Poor \u2014 sued over New York\u2019s assisted suicide law, arguing it would require them to facilitate such deaths for their patients in violation of their faith.<\/p>\n Kate Scanlon is a national reporter for OSV News covering Washington. Follow her on X @kgscanlon.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/a>