Peoria County Coroner Raises Concern Over Medical Aid in Dying Bill

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — A potential law, giving terminally ill patients the option to end their lives through the use of medication, needs more safeguards according to the Peoria County Coroner.

Jamie Harwood said he believes that such a decision needs more oversight than is currently in the law. He said when it comes to hospice care, he investigates every single death. However, that isn’t the case if someone was to choose a medically assisted death.

“The unfortunate thing is the way this bill is written, we wouldn’t even be notified or called into that at all, which is the unfortunate thing,” he said.

The proposal, which passed out of the General Assembly earlier this month, is now on the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker, waiting his signature to make it a law. He has not indicated publicly whether he will sign the measure or not.

Tessa Mahoney, the executive director of the Central Illinois Agency of Aging, said she understands both sides, but it can be difficult to determine if someone truly has only six months or less to live.

“So if somebody goes past six months what happens then… what does the process look like now?” she said.

Gov. JB Pritzker Says He’s still deciding Whether ‘Right-to-Die’ Legislation Should Become Illinois law

Democratic Gov. JB Pritzker on Monday said he was still deciding whether he’d sign legislation that would permit doctors to help terminally ill people end their lives, after the bill narrowly passed the General Assembly last week. 

“It was something that I didn’t expect and didn’t know it was going to be voted on, so we’re examining it even now,” Pritzker said. 

The Democratic-run state Senate, before dawn broke Friday, voted with the bare minimum 30 votes to allow mentally competent, terminally ill adults the right to access life-ending prescription medication with physician oversight. The vote sent the bill to the governor’s desk. But opponents, including disability advocates and the Catholic Church, have pushed back against the measure, saying it could lead to discrimination, coercion and abuse.