Illinois can't force nuns to promote assisted suicide under court order

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Tuesday, September 15, 2026

Illinois has agreed to follow a court order blocking state officials from enforcing the state’s assisted suicide law against Catholic plaintiffs while litigation over the measure continues.

In an order Friday, a federal judge barred leaders of the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Illinois Department of Public Health from enforcing the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act and parts of the Health Care Right of Conscience Act against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago, a Catholic pharmacist and groups of Roman Catholic nuns.

The order was issued by Trump appointee Judge Franklin Valderrama of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division.

The plaintiffs filed a lawsuit arguing the laws violate their religious beliefs about the sanctity of human life, based on Catholic Church teaching. They objected to specific provisions of the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act that require healthcare providers to tell terminally ill patients about “the foreseeable risks and benefits” of all end-of-life options, including assisted suicide. The legislation would also require providers who object on religious grounds to refer patients to a willing provider; and bar providers from trying to stop a “qualified patient” from “obtaining or self-administering suicide drugs.”

The lawsuit contends that the laws also violate the Church Autonomy Doctrine and the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause, along with protections for freedom of speech and assembly and against compelled speech.

The plaintiffs also believe the laws violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Affordable Care Act, Article II of the U.S. Constitution and the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. They asked the court to bar the defendants from enforcing the laws against them, declare the laws unconstitutional and award nominal, compensatory, actual and punitive damages along with attorneys’ fees.

The lawsuit also challenges parts of the Health Care Right of Conscience Act. Those provisions require healthcare facilities to “ensure that conscience-based objections do not cause impairment of patients’ health” and to “inform a patient of the patient’s condition, prognosis, legal treatment options, and risks and benefits of the treatment options in a timely manner.” 

Cardinal Blase Cupich of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago said in a statement that he welcomes the decision, saying healthcare providers shouldn't be compelled to inform patients about the "benefits" of suicide or the "right" to kill themselves. 

“These obligations violate core constitutional protections of freedom of speech and religion," Cupich said. "The law with these provisions must be struck down permanently. To be clear, the Church’s objection to this statute is not an attempt to impose Catholic teaching on non-Catholics; it is an effort to stop the State from compelling Catholic health care providers to violate their conscience.”

Mother Mary Rose Heery, prioress general of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm, said that the agreement "brings real peace of mind to our Sisters, our residents, and their families."

“It allows us to continue our vocation of showing Christ’s unbounded love to those who need it most — a love that endures in every circumstance and through every hardship," Heery said. "We’re grateful that nothing about the care we offer them will have to change.”

Mother Julie Marie, mother provincial of the Chicago Province of the Little Sisters of the Poor, pointed to her order’s mission from God to “offer healing, hope, and comfort to the most vulnerable.”

“We will never betray that calling,” she said, adding that the agreement lets her order “remain true to our mission.”

Plaintiff Luke Vander Bleek, owner of Fitzgerald Pharmacy in Morrison, Illinois, said he seeks to serve his neighbors as a pharmacist while also reaming faithful to his beliefs. 

“This agreement means I can keep doing exactly that when the new law takes effect, without being forced to fill prescriptions for suicide drugs," Vander Bleek said. 

Mark Rienzi, president of the law firm Becket, which represents the plaintiffs, called the Illinois laws forcing nuns to "help people commit suicide" a "blatant attack on religious freedom." 

“We look forward to ending this mandate for good and protecting the right of patients to spend their final days with those who will offer them compassionate, life-affirming care," Rienzi said. 

Friday’s ruling is the latest legal win for opponents of the new assisted suicide law. Late last month, Illinois officials agreed not to enforce the law against Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, the Lutheran Care Center and several Catholic physicians in a separate lawsuit.