By Illinois Review
A federal judge on Thursday declined to issue a preliminary injunction blocking Illinois’ medical aid-in-dying law from taking effect Saturday, allowing the state to proceed with a statute permitting certain terminally ill adults to obtain prescription medication intended to end their lives.
Gov. JB Pritzker signed the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, known as Deb’s Law, on December 12, 2025. It takes effect September 12, 2026.
The bill passed the House 63-42, with two members voting present, in May 2025, and cleared the Senate 30-27 on October 31 – the minimum number of votes required for passage in that chamber.
U.S. District Judge John J. Tharp Jr. ruled on a request for a preliminary injunction brought by disability-rights organizations, two disabled Illinois residents and a physician in Payne v. Pritzker.
The plaintiffs argue the law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Affordable Care Act and constitutional equal-protection guarantees. They contend that allowing physicians to raise medical aid in dying with qualifying patients could create pressure on people with disabilities or alter the physician-patient relationship.
Plaintiffs include Not Dead Yet, United Spinal Association and the National Council on Independent Living.
The state has disputed those claims, arguing the law contains safeguards, requires informed consent and leaves participation voluntary for health-care providers. Attorneys for Illinois told the court this week that physicians remain subject to professional licensing requirements and malpractice laws in addition to the statute’s specific provisions.
Under the law, eligible patients must be adults diagnosed with a terminal illness expected to result in death within six months. The statute requires confirmation by health-care professionals and a process through which the patient personally requests the medication. It also addresses informed consent and alternatives such as hospice and palliative care.
Catholic leaders, including Cardinal Blase Cupich, have opposed the law on moral and religious grounds, calling for greater investment in hospice care, palliative treatment and family support.
Separately, religiously affiliated health-care providers have filed another legal challenge over whether objecting providers can be required to discuss or provide information about medical aid in dying.
A federal court has temporarily protected those plaintiffs while that litigation proceeds. Thursday’s ruling does not resolve the broader constitutional dispute.
A preliminary injunction is an extraordinary remedy issued before a case is fully litigated. Tharp’s decision addressed whether the plaintiffs had met the legal standard for blocking the law before its effective date.
He found they had not.
As a result, Illinois is set to become the first Midwestern state to implement a medical aid-in-dying law when Deb’s Law takes effect Saturday, while litigation over disability protections, physician obligations and the law’s safeguards continues in federal court.
