CHICAGO — Lawmakers are considering legalizing a controversial medical practice that proponents say could ease suffering for the terminally ill.
It’s sometimes called “assisted suicide,” although physicians and advocates for the practice prefer the term “medical aid in dying,” or MAID.
While Compassion & Choices — a group that advocates for medical aid in dying policies — found a majority of Illinois voters supported legalizing MAID in a 2023 poll, some critics call the process “barbaric.”
The measure, contained in Senate Bill 9, is being backed by Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, who told her Senate colleagues at a hearing Friday that she supports the proposal because of her parents’ deaths. Both her mother and father died after extended battles with cancer.