ILLINOIS – Deb’s Law, also known as the End-of-Life Options Act, became law today after a decades long battle to ensure that terminally-ill patients in the state have the full range of end-of-life options available as they face a diagnosis of less than six months to live. The measure was approved by the Illinois legislature in 2025 and signed into law by Governor JB Pritzker in December 2025. Illinois becomes the 14th jurisdiction to authorize medical-aid-in-dying legislation.
“Today is a landmark day for my home state of Illinois and those – like me – facing a terminal illness,” said Deb Robertson, a longtime Illinois resident for whom the legislation was named. “Our state now has joined the roster of locations around the country that allows those of us facing a dire prognosis to have options about how and when we leave this earth.”
“It is comforting to know that starting today no family will face the awful need for a loved one to abandon the state to access the full range of options for the end of their life elsewhere.”
To be eligible to choose medical aid in dying care under Deb’s Law, the individual seeking care must be an Illinois resident aged 18 or older and meet a series of strict guidelines. They include:
- Be diagnosed with a terminal illness, with a prognosis of less than six months to live – confirmed by two doctors;
- Make at least two requests to access medical aid in dying, including a written request. Only the patient – no one else can make the request.
- Have the mental capacity, confirmed by their physician, to make medical decisions.
- Engage in counseling around all end-of-life care options, including comfort care, hospice, palliative care, and pain control.
Despite recent litigation efforts to block implementation of the law, Deb’s Law also provides that no physician, pharmacist, health care provider or entity, is required to provide or participate in medical aid in dying care. The law also has been targeted and opposed by some disability rights advocates claiming that people living with disabilities will be coerced into choosing medical aid in dying, despite the stringent protection in place under the measure and the support of people living with disabilities.
"Justice for those with disabilities means having the freedom to make all life decisions,” said Beth Langen, a longtime disability rights advocate from Springfield who advocated in support of Deb's Law. “Disability and terminal illness are not the same and shouldn’t be conflated. Like Deb – like everyone else across Illinois – those of us with disabilities may face a terminal illness in the future. If I do, I want my right to self-determination to include the final days of my life."
“Today’s implementation is possible only because of the selfless dedication and determination of advocates like Deb and Beth, Illinoisans facing a terminal diagnosis who advocated for this option until their passing, like Andrew Flack and Miguel Carrasquillo, and family members who kept fighting after their death like Andrew’s mom, Suzy and Miguel’s mom, Nilsa” said Khadine Bennett, Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs Director at the ACLU of Illinois. “Terminally ill individuals living in Illinois will no longer have to agonize about spending their remaining days fearful of a painful death because of their courage and the openness of legislators and Governor Pritzker to cut through the hyperbole of opponents and hear the pleas of those who will benefit from this new law and not be forced to leave the state to access legal medical care that is available in other states.”
Illinoisans can find more information about navigating Deb’s Law here.
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