Catholic Cardinal and Nuns Sue Illinois to Stop Forcing Them to Help Patients Kill Themselves

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, two orders of Catholic nuns, and an Illinois pharmacist sued Illinois today over a new law that forces them to help terminally ill patients kill themselves—in direct violation of their religious beliefs.

In Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. Prince, Becket is asking a federal court to block the law before it takes effect on September 12, when healthcare providers who refuse to take part in assisted suicide will face significant fines and penalties.

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For nearly 175 years, Catholic healthcare ministries have been a refuge for the sick, elderly, and dying across Illinois.  Today, that work includes Catholic hospitals treating millions of patients each year, the elder-care ministries of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Little Sisters of the Poor, and the efforts of the many faithful Catholics working in health care, like small-town community pharmacist Luke Vander Bleek. All of them serve patients according to their Catholic faith, which calls them to heal and protect human life, not end it.

That means they cannot prescribe or dispense lethal drugs, direct or refer patients to obtain them, or help facilitate a patient’s suicide in any way. Yet Illinois’ End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLOA) forces them to do exactly that. Healthcare providers that object to participating in assisted suicide must still inform patients about their “right” to kill themselves, help them qualify for lethal drugs, and pass them along to someone willing to help them obtain those drugs—effectively punching the patient’s ticket for death. And pharmacists like Vander Bleek must fill prescriptions they know will be used for suicide or refer patients to another pharmacy that will.

Illinois also threatens religious caregivers for speaking a life-affirming message against suicide, imposing a gag order on their care. EOLOA’s definition of coercion and undue influence is so broad that it risks punishing the Sisters and other healthcare providers in the Archdiocese simply for telling a suffering patient, “Don’t kill yourself. Jesus loves you. Your life is precious.” Becket is asking the court to protect the Sisters’ freedom to care for the most vulnerable according to their faith, and to protect patients who want the freedom to choose that care, free from the state’s message of suicide.

Statements from those involved:

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago:

“The Gospel calls us to uphold the inviolable dignity and worth of the human person, from life’s first moment to its natural end. As Catholics, we oppose efforts to undermine human dignity by pushing our brothers and sisters toward suicide. We pray that the courts will protect our freedom to continue advocating and caring for the sick and dying as our faith demands.”

Mother Mary Rose Heery, O. Carm., Prioress General of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm:

“Our residents come to us at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. Our vocation is to give witness to them, through everything we do, that their lives remain precious and that they will never be abandoned. Illinois cannot ask us to replace that promise with help ending their lives.”

Mother Julie Marie, Mother Provincial of the Chicago Province of the Little Sisters of the Poor:

“The elderly people who come to our homes are looking for a place where they will be cherished and cared for until natural death. They should be free to choose that kind of care without having assisted suicide inserted into it by the state. We simply want to continue giving them the loving home they came to us for.”

Luke Vander Bleek, pharmacist and owner of Fitzgerald Pharmacy in Morrison, Illinois:

“I became a pharmacist because I wanted to help people heal, never to hasten their deaths. But now Illinois wants my pharmacy to dispense prescriptions for suicide in violation of my Catholic beliefs. The state shouldn’t force me to choose between serving my neighbors and following my conscience.”

Mark Rienzi, president of Becket and lead attorney for the healthcare providers:

“The state should stop trying to make Catholic nuns help patients kill themselves.  It is awful for Illinois to be forcing every sick and dying person within its borders to hear its message of suicide at their lowest moment—regardless of whether they want it or not. Patients deserve the freedom to seek healing, hope, and accompaniment without the government forcing suicide into the conversation. The Constitution protects that freedom.”