Update from 12/12/25: Governor Pritzker signed this dangerous bill into law today, which was heartbreaking for so many of us.

We had so many people from diverse perspectives who formed an incredible coalition, which was reflected by the candlelight vigil held on December 11, 2025 & which includes members of the disability advocates & organizations. Countless physicians’ associations, independent living centers throughout Illinois, & local disability advocates oppose assisted suicide & acknowledged that SB 1950, the assisted suicide bill, lacks any guardrails & has even been opposed by over 50 coroners & medical examiners because they cannot determine the cause of death once the bill's opaque language is implemented. 

Governor Pritzker's approval of SB 1950, today--of an assisted suicide bill --is literally a matter of life or death -- Illinois may no longer be the Land of Lincoln; it will become a state of despair.

The candlelight vigil featured a talented & diverse group of speakers, including disability rights advocates, medical professionals, & Illinois senators.            

Many Illinois disability advocates & organizations opposed this bill, including 10 Minutes A Day, Access Living & RAMP Disability Resources & Services, Illinois Spina Bifida Association, & The Arc of Illinois.

Nationally, the National Council on Independent  Living, American Association of People with Disabilities, DIYabled, National Council on Disability, United Spinal Association, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund, APADT, Not Dead Yet, Center for Disability Rights, Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, National Council on Disability, World Sickle Cell Federation, & so many medical organizations, including the Illinois State Medical Society, American Medical Association, American College of Physicians, World Medical Association, & International Association of Hospice & Palliative Care. Even the United Nations opposes assisted suicide because it is considered inhumane & a form of eugenics.

Speech from the vigil, given by 10 Minutes A Day's Executive Director:

I’m a member of & advocate for the disability community. I serve on the boards of several disability rights organizations. I'm also a palliative care pain patient, & live with intractable pain every single day. And every single day, I choose life.

The assisted suicide bill that was rushed through the legislature on Halloween is no treat for the disability community. I testified about a different bill that was intended to prevent unnecessary deaths by expanding access to pain care. I mentioned many patients we know who committed suicide because they were denied medically necessary pain care, not because alternatives don’t exist. One of our members resorted to assisted suicide after losing access to pain treatment that had kept her stable for a long time. Her death & others like it are likely to occur despite the “terminal only” language in the bill, because it’s happened in other states.

The bill comes at the worst possible time: the federal government slashed Medicaid funding & shuttered countless public health initiatives, so suggesting suicide as a “choice” when people have lost access to even basic healthcare puts a heavy burden on disabled people.

Reports from Oregon show 77-79% of assisted suicides from Medicare or Medicaid beneficiaries. Why don’t privately insured people tend to “choose” to die? Assisted suicide is not a choice for many of us—it’s an indication of a broken system. Governor Pritzker said that, if you come for his people, you’d go through him. Insurers are coming for “his” people if this bill becomes law. Canada passed a similar bill in 2021. Within a few years, people with non-terminal conditions were steered towards assisted suicide, which now accounts for 1 out of every 5 deaths there. We respectfully ask our Governor to veto this dangerous bill.

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