Thanks to you, Issues et cetera consistently ranks among the top podcasts in religion and spirituality with Apple and Spotify podcasts.

Please help us reach more listeners in 2026 by making a year-end gift.

For a year-end donation of $240 or more, we'll send you our latest book, Objections Over Rule 4,

and a new recording of 15 hymns featuring

the Lutheran Public Radio Choir. You can make a secure online contribution at Issuesetc.org.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for your support.

When we read about assisted suicide, physician assisted suicide, euphemistically called euthanasia or medical aid in dying, it's usually Canada.

And Canada is definitely the bellwether for this death cult that is called assisted suicide.

Well, now it has come officially and legally to Illinois.

Governor J.B. Pritzker has signed into law a bill that legalizes assisted suicide. Does it stop there? Welcome back to issues et cetera. I'm Todd Wilkin, joining us to discuss the legalization of assisted suicide in Illinois.

Wesley Smith, senior fellow at the Discovery Institute Center on Human Exceptionalism. He's a columnist

for National Review Online, author of several books including forced exit,

Euthanasia, Assisted Suicide and the New Duty to Die, and Culture of Death, the Age of

Due Harm Medicine.

Wesley, welcome back.

Thanks.

Good to talk to you again.

Let's begin with your reaction to Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker's statement about signing

an assisted suicide bill into law. He says, quote, I've been deeply impacted by the stories

of Illinoisans or their loved ones that have suffered from a devastating terminal illness,

and I've been moved by their dedication to standing up for freedom and choice at the end of life in the midst of personal heartbreak.

Today, Illinois honors their strength and courage by enacting legislation that enables patients faced with debilitating terminal illnesses to make a decision in consultation with a doctor that helps them avoid unnecessary pain and suffering at the end of their lives.

...