SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — The state Senate held a subject matter hearing over Senate Bill 9, which would allow anyone dying of a terminal illness in six months to have the option for a medically assisted death.
The hearing lasted hours, with the proponents speaking on their experiences of family members that have passed away.
"In those weeks when she was dying, I was sitting at the edge of her bed and she reaches over and grabs my arm and just says 'Linda please, please don't make this don't make this last any longer,'" State Sen. Linda Holmes (D-Aurora) said.
Holmes filed the bill after dealing with both her mother and father's deaths. She said they both suffered extremely before their deaths.
Supporters for the bill talked about how it helps people regain agency in their life when they lose it after their terminal illness diagnosis.
Some of the advocates at the hearing are going to die from cancer this year. They would have been eligible for assisted death if the plan had already been signed into law.
"I love my life," Deborah Robertson said. "I don't want to die and I love my family. My wife and children have supported me throughout my cancer journey, and they support me pursuing this end of life option."
Opponents to the bill say they don't want people to suffer, but this plan is going in the wrong direction.
Rather they would prefer larger expansions to healthcare programs to make it easier for the disabled and terminally ill to gain access to the care they need. Including Riley Spreadbury, who's spent her life in a wheelchair.
"Navigating the healthcare system with a disability can be incredibly frustrating and demoralizing," Spreadbury said. "On numerous occasions I've had to request for routine medical exams my non-disabled counterparts get automatically."
Since this was a subject matter hearing, the bill did not move out of committee, but lawmakers have the chance to talk about it more in the future.
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