Pope asked Illinois governor to veto assisted suicide bill

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Dec 23, 2025 / 14:55 pm

Pope Leo XIV appealed to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzer to veto a bill legalizing assisted suicide during a Vatican meeting last month, the pope told reporters Tuesday.

The pope said he made his opposition to the bill clear in their November conversation. 

Leo told Pritzker it was important to defend the value of life and that every life is sacred, the pope told reporters outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before his return to Rome.

The Vatican had not earlier provided details of the meeting.

Pritzker signed the assisted suicide measure, ardently opposed by Catholic leaders, into law Dec. 12.

People should use the time of Christmas to think about the value of life again after Illinois and several states have adopted assisted suicide laws, the pope added.

Several states and countries also have advanced legislation to expand access to physician-assisted suicide besides Illinois.

“This law ignores the very real failures in access to quality care that drive vulnerable people to despair,” according to the Catholic Conference of Illinois. “It does nothing to ensure patients are offered services, protected from coercion, or surrounded by loved ones when they kill themselves.” 

Other U.S. jurisdictions with assisted suicide laws include California, Colorado, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Washington, and the District of Columbia. 

British lawmakers in the House of Commons passed a bill in June to legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill patients in England and Wales. Legislators in Uruguay passed a bill in August to legalize euthanasia in the country.

A Canadian law allowing medical assistance in dying led to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths among vulnerable groups, a report showed.

Rudolf Gehrig contributed to this story.