Cardinal Cupich, two communities of women religious and a pharmacist from western Illinois were granted a temporary restraining order on Sept. 11 against the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, which went into effect on Sept. 12.
“This order means they can continue caring for patients according to their faith without being forced to assist with suicides or punished for speaking a life-affirming message against suicide,” said the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which filed a lawsuit on Sept. 3 on behalf of Cardinal Cupich; the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, who operate St. Patrick Home in Naperville; the Little Sisters of the Poor, who operate St. Mary’s Home at 2325 N. Lakewood Ave. and St. Joseph’s Home in Palatine; and Vander Bleek, a pharmacist from Morrison, Illinois.
Under the law, an Illinois resident who is at least 18 years old and able to make medical decisions can request in writing life-ending drugs if it is determined by two physicians that they have a terminal illness.
The law forces Catholic healthcare providers to violate their faith by helping people end their lives through suicide, which the church considers a sin, the Becket Fund explained. It also penalizes health care providers who try to deter the patient from taking their life on moral grounds.
The restraining order applies only to those named in the lawsuit while the case proceeds in the courts.
“While this is not the permanent remedy we seek, it is encouraging that the court recognized the merits of our suit which is based on the constitutionally enshrined right of free religious speech,” the Archdiocese of Chicago said in a statement released Sept. 11. “To state what should be obvious, health care workers should not be compelled by statute to act in way contrary to their religious beliefs. It is difficult to imagine, for example, religious sisters’ under threat of penalty being required to inform patients of the ‘benefits’ of suicide and to refer those patients to sources of lethal drugs and other life-ending measures. Yet these are provisions spelled out in the law. To be clear, our objection to this statute is not based on a desire to impose our beliefs on others. It is an effort to stop the State of Illinois from compelling any and all health care providers to violate their conscience.”
“As Little Sisters of the Poor, we are called by God to offer healing, hope, and comfort to the most vulnerable. We will never betray that calling. Thanks to this agreement, we can remain true to our mission,” said Little Sister of the Poor Mother Julie Marie, provincial of the Chicago Province of the Little Sisters of the Poor, in a statement.