‘Nearly every Catholic health care institution’ in Illinois shielded from suicide law in court order

Catholic health institutions in Illinois will enjoy broad protection against the state’s assisted suicide law after a federal court expanded a block against the law to protect religious objectors from being forced to participate in it.

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois earlier this year ruled in favor of multiple Catholic plaintiffs, including Springfield Bishop Thomas Paprocki and Chicago archbishop Cardinal Blase Cupich , barring the state from requiring them to participate in the suicide regime there. Multiple groups of religious sisters have also been included in those protective orders.

The Thomas More Society, a legal group representing Paprocki and several others in their lawsuit, announced on Oct. 8 that “nearly every Catholic health care institution in Illinois” had been included in an expanded court order blocking the suicide law from being enforced.

Among the protected entities are the Catholic Medical Association, the Catholic Psychotherapy Association, and numerous Catholic healthcare affiliates in the Diocese of Springfield.

The order is temporary and will last only so long as the lawsuit against the state suicide law plays…