Pritzker Uncommitted on Signing Assisted Suicide Bill
Governor JB Pritzker speaks at the Philip J. Rock Center & School in suburban Glen Ellyn Friday. (Photo: Daily Herald)
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Governor JB Pritzker said Monday he and his office are “still examining” the “Medical Aid in Dying” legislation passed in the Senate late Thursday in the final hours of the fall veto session.
“It was something that I didn’t expect and didn’t know was going to be voted on, so we’re examining it even now,” Pritzker said at an unrelated news conference in suburban Glen Ellyn.
But Pritzker seemed open to the concept of the legislation.
“I know how terrible it is that someone who’s in the last six months of their life could be experiencing terrible pain and anguish, and I know people who’ve gone through that,” he said. “I know people whose family members have gone through that, and so it hits me deeply and makes me wonder about how we can alleviate the pain that they’re going through.”
The legislation would allow people 18 and older with a terminal medical diagnosis to obtain drugs to help them commit suicide.
The bill passed the House in May and was off the radar for many Statehouse observers until it was called early Friday morning. It passed 30-27, with eight Senate Democrats voting against it.
The bill has not been transmitted to the Governor yet. He’ll have 60 days to act once it hits his desk.
