Assisted Suicide and False Death Certificates

After narrowly passing in the Illinois House in late May, we thank God that the physician-assisted suicide bill (SB 1950 Amendment 2) has stalled in the Illinois Senate, at least for now. Deceptively titled the “End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act,” this dangerous measure could be brought to a vote at any time during the upcoming Veto Session (October 28–30) or picked back up during the regular session next year (January–May).

As if state-sanctioned suicide was not alarming enough, the bill contains another deeply troubling—and deceptive—provision: the allowance of false death certificates. If enacted, this legislation would permit physicians to list the cause of death as the patient’s underlying illness rather than the deliberate act of assisted suicide, likely a violation of federal law.[i] It would also allow doctors who sign these death certificates to be absent at the actual suicide, effectively enabling them to become parties to potential fraud, all under the color of law.[ii]