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Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he is “deeply disappointed” in his home state Illinois had approved a law allowing medically assisted suicide, and he called for greater respect for life.
Leo said he had spoken “frankly” with the governor. JB Pritzker And urged them not to sign this bill and make it a law. Cardinal Blaise Cupich of Chicago did the same, Leo told reporters as he left his country home in Castell Gandolfo in the south. Rome,
“We were very clear about the need to respect the sanctity of life from beginning to end and unfortunately, for various reasons, he decided to sign that bill,” Leo said. “I’m very disappointed about it.”
Pritzker signed the legislation on December 12. The measure is also known as “Deb’s Law”, honoring Deb Robertson, a state resident suffering from a rare terminal disease. He had pressed for approval of the measure and testified to the suffering of those people and their families who wanted the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
Pritzker, a Democrat, said he was moved by the stories of patients suffering from terminal illnesses.
Leo, who grew up in Chicago, cited Catholic teachings that call for the protection and preservation of life from conception to natural death, prohibiting abortion and euthanasia.
Leo said, “I would invite all people, especially in these Christmas days, to contemplate the nature of human life, the goodness of human life.” “God became human like us to show us what it truly means to live a human life, and I hope and pray that respect for life will once again grow in all moments of human existence, from conception to natural death.”
The state’s six Catholic dioceses criticized Pritzker’s signature, saying the legislation puts Illinois “on a dangerous and heartbreaking path.”
Eleven other states and the District of Columbia allow medically assisted suicide, according to the advocacy group Death with Dignity. delaware was the latest, and its provision will be effective from January 1, 2026. Seven other states are considering allowing it.
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Nicole Winfield contributed from Rome.
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