Cardinal Cupich sues Illinois over assisted suicide law taking effect September 12

On September 3, Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, filed a federal lawsuit against the state of Illinois over a new assisted suicide law that takes effect on September 12. He was joined by two orders of religious sisters and a Catholic pharmacist.

The suit was brought by Cupich, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Little Sisters of the Poor and pharmacist Luke Vander Bleek. They argue that the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act violates their core religious beliefs, and they are asking a federal court to block it before it takes effect.

In a press statement, Cupich said: "The Gospel calls us to defend the inviolable dignity and worth of the human person, from the first moment of life until its natural end." He said Catholics have consistently opposed any legislative effort that undermines basic human dignity. He called on the courts to protect their constitutional freedom to keep advocating for and caring for the sick and the dying as their faith requires.

Cooperation required by the law

The law technically exempts health care providers from having to supply lethal drugs for assisted suicide themselves, but the lawsuit argues that it still requires significant cooperation. Providers must allow their employees to actively promote assisted suicide or to take part in assisted suicides carried out away from their facilities. Religious facilities also cannot discipline or dismiss employees who promote or assist in a patient's suicide, even when those employees deliberately act against the employer's institutional guidelines, Catholic mission or religious identity.

The law also bars medical professionals from discouraging people from choosing assisted suicide, classifying such attempts as "misinformation to obstruct access." It further states that "medical aid in dying" is not legally "suicide or assisted suicide." Penalties for noncompliance can include large fines, the revocation of professional licenses or criminal charges against individuals.

Impact on Catholic health professionals

For Luke Vander Bleek, who owns Fitzgerald Pharmacy in Morrison, Illinois, the law could end his decades-long career. He said his Catholic beliefs prevent him from filling prescriptions for lethal doses of medication for assisted suicide. "I became a pharmacist because I wanted to help people heal, never to hasten their deaths. But now Illinois wants my pharmacy to dispense prescriptions for suicide in violation of my Catholic beliefs," Vander Bleek said in Thursday's statement.

"The state should not force me to choose between serving my neighbors and following my conscience," he said. He said the law puts him in a position where keeping his moral integrity would mean giving up his profession.

The constitutional argument

Mark Rienzi, president of Becket, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, said: "It is unacceptable that Illinois is forcing every sick and dying person within its borders to hear its message of suicide at their lowest moment, whether they want to or not." Rienzi also said that "patients deserve the freedom to seek healing, hope and support without the government forcing suicide into the conversation. The Constitution protects that freedom."

The lawsuit rests on two constitutional claims: the religious freedom of providers and the freedom of patients to refuse the state's promotion of assisted suicide.

Earlier ruling and timeline

Last month, a court agreed to halt enforcement of the law for a limited group of religious health care providers. That temporary order applied only to Catholic hospitals in the Diocese of Springfield, the Lutheran Care Center and four individual doctors who filed a separate lawsuit against the state on August 11.

The law is scheduled to take effect on September 12, 2026, nine days after the new lawsuit was filed.