* Illinois End-of-Life Options Coalition…

A Chicago mother, Suzy Flack has recorded a Mother’s Day video to urge legislators in Illinois to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation as quickly as possible to honor her only son, Andrew ‘Drew’ Flack, who died from cancer.

The video comes as Illinois legislators consider the End-of-Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act (SB 3499) which would allow mentally capable, terminally ill adults with six months or less to live the option to request a prescription for medication that they could decide to take to die peacefully. To see the video, click here.

Andrew was a special education teacher and an avid hockey player who spent his last months of life advocating for medical aid in dying in his home state of Illinois by recording a video for Compassion & Choices and through his blog and podcast. Fortunately, he had moved from Illinois to California before he became ill, so Andrew had the option to use California’s End of Life Option Actto die peacefully. Andrew died on November 16, 2022. He was only 34 years old.

“That option was so comforting to Drew,” Suzy says in the video. “Even m ore than death itself, he feared that his body would just deteriorate to the point where he had no quality of life.”

For two years, Andrew endured numerous rounds of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery after he was diagnosed in 2017 with stage III colorectal cancer. Unfortunately, the painful treatments did nothing to cure the cancer. In December 2020, doctors told Andrew his cancer was terminal.

“When Drew found out [he] was terminal…I asked him, [I] actually pleaded, please come back home.” Suzy says in the video. “It was a hardcore ‘no,’ because Illinois did not offer the option of medical aid and dying.“

Suzy understands first-hand the positive impact of authorizing medical aid-in-dying laws, and urged lawmakers to listen to the majority (71%) of Illinoisans who want the Illinois legislature to pass medical aid-in-dying legislation.

This majority spans the demographic, political, racial, and religious spectrums, including 87% of Democratic voters, 86% of Latino voters, 73% of voters living with disabilities, 69% of Independent, African American/Black, White, and Catholic voters, 58% of non-Catholic Christians and 50% of Republican voters. In contrast, fewer than one in five Illinois voters (17%) oppose medical aid in dying.

“The way he died and the peacefulness of it,” she said. “That is something I will be carrying around forever.”

Suzy recalled that evening of November 16, 2022, when Drew took the medication, surrounded by his loved ones, including Jaxson, his roommate’s dog. She said a nurse mixed the medication and gave Andrew a spoon with raspberry sorbet.

“Within two minutes, he was snoring, and my ex-husband looked over at me…we both smiled, because Drew had not had a good night’s sleep for many years,” she said. “…The snoring was just music to our ears. Drew’s final words before he fell asleep were, ‘I’m happy.’”

* WAND…

Illinois lawmakers hope to recruit more people to the early childhood education workforce by creating a scholarship program.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission would work with the Board of Higher Education and Illinois Community College Board to design the program and solicit feedback from an advisory committee. […]

Advocates noted that the scholarship program would be subject to state appropriations.

House Bill 5024 passed unanimously out of the House Child Care Accessibility and Early Childhood Education Committee Thursday. The proposal now heads to the House floor for further consideration.

* WGEM…

A bill in the Illinois legislature would health insurance companies cover continuous glucose monitors (CGM) for all diabetics.

Sponsored by state Sen. Julie Morrison, D-Lake Forest, the bill is currently in the state House of Representatives after the state Senate passed it unanimously on April 10. It is a follow-up to legislation requiring insurers cover CGMs for people who have type 1 and 2 diabetes. Under the bill, all types of diabetes, including gestational diabetes, would be covered beginning Jan. 1 2026.

“As family physicians, we strongly support improved access to care for our patients. For diabetic patients, using CGMs has been shown to improve blood-glucose control even in the absence of other interventions,” said Illinois Academy of Family Physicians President Dr. Emma Daisy.

The bill would also require insurance companies cover CGMs prescribed all doctors and nurse practitioners not only endocrinologists.

* WGEM…

Cancer patients in Illinois may soon be guaranteed insurance coverage for their wigs.

The Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill Thursday requiring insurers cover wigs and scalp prostheses for people who lose their hair due to radiation or chemotherapy or due to a hair-loss condition like alopecia. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, insurers will be required to cover at least one wig or scalp prosthesis every 12 months.

“It will give women empowerment to feel better about themselves knowing they can get a hairpiece and wigs are expensive,” said state Rep. Yolanda Morris, D-Chicago, the bill’s House sponsor.

The bill now heads to Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s desk. The state Senate passed the bill unanimously April 12.

* Sen. Paul Faraci…

State Senator Paul Faraci advanced legislation to extend the Energy Assistance Act, which provides low-income households with financial assistance on utility bills. […]

Faraci’s measure would eliminate the scheduled sunset date on a state fund that finances two needs-based assistance programs – the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and the Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP). The fund was set to shut down Jan. 1, 2025.

LIHEAP and PIPP offer bill payment assistance to low-income residential utility customers by helping eligible households pay for home energy services. Both assistance programs are administered by the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity. […]

House Bill 4471 passed the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Thursday and advances to the full Senate for consideration.

* Windy City Times…

About 130 state residents journeyed to the Illinois State House May 8 to lobby legislators for an easier name-change process, a grant-making program helping schools with sex education and other measures aimed at supporting the LGBTQ+ community. […]

Among Equality Illinois’s agenda items is Senate Bill 2930, which requires nonprofits that report grants of $1 million or more to other charitable organizations to disclose diversity information about their boards on their websites. […]

Equality Illinois is also pushing two house bills aimed at making it easier for transgender people to update personal documents to better reflect their gender identities, Ziri said.

House Bill 5164 modernizes the state’s name-change process by allowing name-change records to be impounded and removing the requirement that people publish their name change in a newspaper.

The other measure, House Bill 5507, allows Illinois residents to request documentation from a state judge that they could use to update birth certificates held by another state or country.

Both bills have already passed the Illinois House of Representatives.