SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – One piece of legislation that did not make it out of the Illinois General Assembly last week would have legalized physician assisted suicide in the state.
The bill was included in a so-called “Shell Bill.” Legislation that originally was meant to deal with food sanitation, but the language was later taken out and replaced with the assisted suicide proposal.
“That means it fast-tracked and it also missed a few steps,” Republican State Representative Bill Hauter of Morton told WMBD’s “The Phil Luciano Show.”
The procedure is legal in 10 states and the District of Columbia.
Hauter said the bill “barely” made it out of the House (63-42) Thursday.
“It was ready to go to the Senate but they ran out of time” ahead of the midnight Saturday scheduled adjournment, Hauter said. “And also, I think, they didn’t have the votes.”
Hauter, an anesthesiologist by trade, said he and other doctors are opposed to physician assisted suicide.
“We see the ethical problems,” Hauter said. “We see it is really incompatible with our oath.”
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