September 18, 2026, Washington, D.C. – In the latest challenge to Illinois’ new physician assisted suicide law, four Muslim doctors sued the state this week to block enforcement of provisions that force doctors to help patients end their lives—even doctors who conscientiously object to doing so on grounds of religious conviction.   

The lawsuit, brought in federal court on behalf of the physicians by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, takes aim at Illinois’ End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (EOLOA). Proponents of the law, which took effect September 12, say it gives terminally ill patients “the option to seek medication to peacefully end their lives on their own terms in consultation with physicians.”

In a statement issued upon signing the bill into law, Illinois’ governor claimed that doctors “are not under any duty to participate in the provision of aid-in-dying and are not subject to criminal or civil liability for…refusing to provide aid-in-dying care to a patient in good faith compliance with the Act.”

The Muslim physicians in this case, however, argue that even if the EOLOA does not require them to participate directly in the suicide procedure, it still requires them to inform patients of their legal option to commit suicide and to refer them to other physicians who will help them do so. This mandate, the plaintiffs argue, forces them to violate their religious belief that life is sacred and that helping someone to end their life is repugnant to their vocation and a sin. 

Illinois’ assisted suicide mandate is the subject of at least two other lawsuits by religious medical professionals. One, also filed by Becket, involves a challenge by two orders of Catholic nuns and the Archbishop of Chicago. Another suit, filed by St. Thomas More Society, is by a broad coalition of Catholic and Lutheran physicians, medical institutions, and professional associations. In both cases, the court has issued temporary restraining orders prohibiting the state from enforcing the mandate against the plaintiffs while the cases are being litigated.

The Muslim physicians’ challenge to Illinois’ assisted suicide mandate follows the efforts of Ismail Royer, RFI’s Director of Islam and Religious Freedom, to publicly highlight the challenge this law creates for physicians of all faiths.

In March of this year, Royer testified at a hearing of the White House’s Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) on a multi-faith panel highlighting pernicious challenges to the protection of life in the field of medicine today. In his testimony, Royer focused on the growing concerns among Muslim practitioners regarding the legalization of physician assisted suicide, with a focus on Illinois’ law. The RLC included those concerns in the report it submitted to the White House this June.

Royer also raised the concerns of Illinois Muslim physicians in a meeting with officials of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That meeting enabled RFI to share insights into the landscape of medical conscience rights for Christians, Muslims, and other Americans of faith.

“As the effective date of the Illinois assisted suicide law approached, I knew the physicians I’d interviewed in preparation for my RLC testimony were deeply worried,” said Royer. “And I also knew that connecting them with our partners at the Becket Fund would give them an excellent chance to vindicate their conscience rights.”

RFI has prioritized medical conscience rights with several other initiatives. For example, since 2020, RFI has helped to lead the Medical Conscience Rights Initiative (MCRI). A joint effort with Alliance Defending Freedom and Christ Medicus Foundation, MCRI equips state leaders to understand why defending religious freedom in healthcare is so important, and urges them to defend it in state law.

The case is Ali v. Vohra. Read the full text of the complaint here.

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The Religious Freedom Institute (RFI) works to secure religious freedom for everyone, everywhere. RFI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization based in Washington, D.C.

Media Contact: Nathan Berkeley
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