Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, two orders of Catholic nuns and an Illinois pharmacist filed a federal lawsuit Thursday seeking to block the state's medical aid in dying law just days before it takes effect. The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, argues the statute unconstitutionally forces religious healthcare providers and pharmacists to participate in helping patients end their lives.
The case, Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm v. Prince, was filed by the public-interest law firm Becket on behalf of Cupich, the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, the Little Sisters of the Poor, and Luke Vander Bleek, an independent pharmacist in Morrison, Illinois. The lawsuit names Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Director Terry Prince, Department of Public Health Director Sameer Vohra, and Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Secretary Mario Treto, Jr. as defendants, according to The Center Square. Those state agencies oversee licensed healthcare facilities and professional medical licenses across Illinois.
Illinois' End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act — widely known as Deb's Law — allows terminally ill adults to request a prescription from a doctor to end their lives, according to CBS Chicago. The law requires two doctors to determine that a patient has a terminal disease and that the patient will die within six months, and it requires the medication to be requested both orally and in written documentation before being self-administered by the patient. Patients must also be fully informed of end-of-life care options, including hospice, palliative care, comfort care and pain control, per the outlet's reporting.
Nuns Say Law Forces Them to Counsel Toward Suicide
The Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm and the Little Sisters of the Poor operate residential elder-care homes in Illinois and argue the law unconstitutionally forces them to proactively counsel residents on assisted suicide and allow lethal self-administration on their premises, according to the Center Square's reporting. Cupich said in a statement that Catholics oppose efforts to undermine human dignity by pushing people toward suicide, per CBS Chicago's account, and he said he hopes courts will protect the freedom to advocate for and care for the sick and dying.
Vander Bleek, the Morrison pharmacist, joined the suit alleging the statute unconstitutionally obligates conscientious objectors to either dispense lethal end-of-life medications or refer patients to participating pharmacies, per Becket's filing. The lawsuit broadly argues that opposing healthcare providers must inform patients about medical aid in dying, help patients qualify for the lethal drugs, and pass along patients to someone willing to help them obtain the medication if the provider itself objects. Cupich and the other plaintiffs argue the law is unconstitutional on those grounds.
A Third Federal Challenge Ahead of the Law's Start
This is not the first legal effort to stop the law before its September 12 start date. Cupich's suit follows an August federal lawsuit brought by Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki, the Lutheran Care Center of Altamont, and four Christian physicians, as well as a June federal suit led by disability rights advocate Ebony Payne and the United Spinal Association, which Hoodline covered in its report on disability advocates' race to halt the law.
In that earlier case, U.S. District Judge Franklin U. Valderrama issued a temporary restraining order on August 21 blocking state enforcement of specific provisions of the law, according to the Center Square's report. That order came in response to the lawsuit filed by medical professionals and clergy, and it now sits as existing judicial precedent ahead of the law's scheduled implementation.
From Vatican Appeal to State Law
The End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act was passed by the Illinois General Assembly as Senate Bill 1950 under chief sponsorship by State Senator Linda Holmes and State Representative Robyn Gabel, according to the ACLU of Illinois. Gov. JB Pritzker signed the bill into law on December 12, 2025, a measure Hoodline reported on at the time, and medical aid in dying had been legalized in 12 states as of 2025, with similar legislation under consideration in eight other states that year.
Before Pritzker signed the bill, Pope Francis personally appealed to the governor during a Vatican meeting to veto the legislation, expressing disappointment when the measure was signed into law anyway, according to the Catholic World Report. Upon its enactment, Illinois became the 13th U.S. jurisdiction — and the first state in the Midwest — to legalize medical aid in dying for terminally ill adults, per Death With Dignity's tracking of the law.
Catholic Guidance Ahead of Implementation
In anticipation of the law taking effect on September 12, the Catholic Conference of Illinois published an online educational guidance resource titled “Compassion + Care, Now and at the Hour of Our Death” to instruct Catholic healthcare workers and families on church teachings regarding end-of-life decisions, according to Chicago Catholic. The guide emphasizes palliative care and hospice as the sole moral choices for Catholic care.
With the law's start date just over a week away, federal courts face pressure to rule on Cupich's suit and the earlier challenges before any prescriptions can be written under the new statute. Illinois' position as the first Midwestern state to legalize medical aid in dying has made its rollout, and the mounting legal fights surrounding it, a closely watched test case for similar legislation being weighed elsewhere in the country.
