Illinois Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill Opposed

Effingham County Board has taken an official stance against the recently advanced Illinois Physician-Assisted Suicide Bill, known as the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act. The resolution, opposing the legislation, passed Monday after considerable discussion.

Board member Sandi Rich cited concerns regarding the responsibilities that would fall on county coroners and first responders when handling deaths under the new law. She also questioned the protocol for unused medication if a patient chooses not to proceed.  

County Coroner Kim Rhodes echoed those concerns, stating uncertainty over which medications would be used and how such deaths would be reported. County Democrat Chairman Pat Lewis expressed the need for ongoing review and potential revisions to the measure, but stopped short of supporting a complete repeal.

Scottish Parliament Votes Down Assisted Suicide Legislation

The Scottish Parliament has voted down legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults to choose an assisted suicide. Euthanasia laws have passed across the western world.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) bill fell on March 10 with 69 Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) voting against and 57 in favor, short of the 64 votes required to pass.

Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur, who tabled the bill, called the result “devastating” but said the conversation “isn’t going away.” McArthur has championed assisted dying since his re-election in 2021 and serves as one of Holyrood’s deputy presiding officers. He will need to be re-elected on May 7 to bring the issue forward again, reports the BBC.

The legislation underwent intense scrutiny, including 175 stage-three amendments. MSPs debated the bill passionately, with some speaking for the last time before the upcoming election. The measure is the third attempt to legalize assisted dying in Scotland over the past 16 years.

Independent MSP Margo MacDonald first proposed similar legislation in 2010, which was rejected 85–16. A second bill from Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie was defeated 82–36 in 2015. Last year, MSPs approved the bill’s general principles by 70–56.

9-0: Supreme Court Sides With Street Preacher’s Right to Sue Over City’s Speech Restriction Fred Lucas

 March 20, 2026 

The Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision on Friday, allowed a Christian pastor to proceed with his lawsuit against a Mississippi city’s law restricting where he could preach.

In the case of Olivier v. City of Brandon, Justice Elena Kagan, a Barack Obama appointee, wrote for the court in the case involving free speech and religious freedom.

The high court determined that pastor Gabriel Olivier could sue the government of Brandon, Miss., over an ordinance he contends unconstitutionally prevents him from sharing his Christian faith near a public amphitheater.

He was arrested for preaching outside the designated free speech area in 2021 and pleaded no contest.

Allen West Greets Patty Morin

This past Monday, I was in Maryland, and I had the privilege of meeting Patty Morin. [pictured here] I say privilege because when you stand in the presence of a mother who has buried her daughter, a mother who channels her grief into a fight for justice, you are in the presence of something sacred. Something that should humble every politician, every judge, and every governor who has decided that ideological posturing matters more than the lives of American citizens.  

Patty’s daughter was Rachel Morin. A 37-year-old mother of five children. Let that settle in for a moment. Five children. Rachel went for a walk on the Ma & Pa Trail in Bel Air, Maryland, on August 5, 2023. She never came home. Her body was discovered the next day. She had been brutally raped and murdered.

Alberta to Ban Doctors from Offering Euthanasia before a Patient Asks — Unlike the Rest of Canada

Alberta Justice Minister Mickey Amery and Premier Danielle Smith, pictured left.

Alberta doctors will be explicitly banned from raising assisted death with a patient without the person first bringing it up, according to a new bill tabled in the province on Wednesday.  

The goal is to ensure the potentially life-ending decisions are “initiated and driven” by people themselves.  

Some critics argue that it’s “mind boggling” that, across Canada, medical assistance in dying (MAID) is being presented as a care option. The fear is that initiating a discussion about MAID risks unduly influencing someone to choose it, given doctor-patient power dynamics.

However, Canada’s MAID providers argue that doctors have a duty to disclose “all available treatment options,” including, when appropriate, MAID.

Among other changes, Alberta’s proposed Safeguards for Last Resort Termination of Life Act would, if passed, restrict all regulated health professionals, including doctors and nurse practitioners, from bringing up MAID unless the person raises it.

Alex Schadenberg: I Have Amazing News.

On March 17, Scotland's parliament voted 69 to 57 to reject Liam McArthur's assisted suicide bill. This is a great victory after the same bill was passed at second reading, in May 2025, by a vote of 70 to 56.

The defeat of Scotland's assisted suicide bill follows the death of the England / Wales Kim Leadbeater assisted suicide bill that has essentially died in the British House of Lords.

Megan Bonar reported for BBC Scotland that Dr Gordon Macdonald, CEO of Care Not Killing, expressed relief.