Gabel Measure to Give Terminally Ill Adults Compassionate Options to End their Suffering Passes Legislature

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – A measure spearheaded by state Rep. Robyn Gabel, D-Evanston, that would allow terminally ill adults with decision-making capacity to request and receive prescription medication that could be self-administered to hasten their foreseeable deaths passed the legislature on Friday.

“This measure enables patients who still are capable of making serious decisions and who are facing enormous pain due to fatal medical problems to maintain bodily autonomy,” Gabel said. “Ensuring terminally ill patients have a compassionate way to preserve their dignity and to allow them to choose for themselves to peacefully end their suffering is progress for human rights in Illinois.”

Gabel helped pass Senate Bill 1950 out of the legislature, which grants patients who have the mental fortitude and an incurable disease the freedom to obtain medication they can self- administer to peacefully end their lives.