As four orders of Catholic sisters challenge New York's assisted suicide law in federal court, Illinois prepares to implement its own End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act on Sept. 12. The law arrives in the home state of the first American pope, Leo XIV, who personally appealed to Gov. JB Pritzker not to sign it, as did Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago. What was once hypothetical for many Catholics is now becoming part of ordinary pastoral life.
The church has consistently taught that intentionally ending human life cannot be reconciled with human dignity. That witness remains essential. Yet another question now presses upon us with equal urgency: If assisted suicide is becoming part of the legal landscape, what are Catholics prepared to offer as an alternative?
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