PALLIATIVE CARE VS EUTHANASIA

“God’s love requires that we give our best
to each and every one of our brothers and sisters,
even those who are in the final stage of their life. “
Pope Francis REGINA CAELI address May 6, 2018 Vatican City

EUTHANASIA

Euthanasia, called by the secular state euphemistically “Death with Dignity” is always immoral. Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), reported, “A government that legalizes assisted suicide sends the terrible message that there is such a thing as disposable people.

Abortion is already legal which means if you don’t want the child you can get rid of it before birth. Now that Abortion is legal, some human life is established legally as disposable. There are now, some people who want to take it to the end of life, people too frail, too mentally disabled to work and contribute to society. Leaders of the “aid in dying” movement have also voiced support for ending the lives of people who never asked for death, whose lives they see as meaningless or as a costly burden on the community.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states it this way, 2277 Whatever its motives and means, direct euthanasia consists in putting an end to the lives of handicapped, sick, or dying persons. It is morally unacceptable.

Compare the language of doctor assisted suicide protocol and Catholic directive for end of life health care. You can compare man-made law with a follower of God-made law. Many states already have established “Death with Dignity” laws. You be the judge of where you fit in.

DEATH WITH DIGNITY REQUEST (STATE OF OREGON
I, __________ am an adult of sound mind. I am suffering from_________________ which my attending/prescribing physician has determined is a terminal disease and which has been medically confirmed by a consulting physician. I have been fully informed of: my diagnosis; prognosis…. I request that my attending/prescribing physician prescribe medication that will end my life in a humane and dignified manner.

EXAMPLE OF CATHOLIC DIRECTIVE REGARDING MY HEALTH CARE

My Catholic faith teaches that all human life is a precious gift from God from the first moment of conception to the moment of natural death, and that euthanasia and assisted suicide are not morally permissible. Therefore, I oppose any action or inaction that is intended to cause my death. I always wish to receive basic care, which will allow me to be most comfortable including food, water, and pain control.

 

I wish to receive medical care and treatment appropriate to my condition as long as it is useful and offers a reasonable hope of benefit and is not excessively burdensome to me, i.e., does not impose serious risk, or some other extreme burden. If I am unable to eat and drink on my own, nutrition and hydration administered by medical means should be provided to me unless death is inevitable and imminent so that the effort to sustain my life is futile, or unless I am unable to assimilate food or fluids.

I request and direct that medical treatment and care be provided to me to preserve my life without discrimination based on my age, physical or mental disability, or the “quality” of my life. If my death from a terminal illness is imminent, I wish to refuse treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of my life. I wish to be attended by a Catholic priest, receive the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum.

PALLIATIVE CARE

The World Health Organization defines palliative care as “an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families facing the problems associated with life-threatening illness, through the prevention and relief of suffering by means of early identification and impeccable assessment and treatment of pain and other problems, physical, psychosocial and spiritual.” The intention of palliative care is neither to hasten nor delay death and acknowledges that dying is a normal process.

Effective palliative care allows patients to devote their attention to the unfinished business of their lives, to arrive at a sense of peace with God, with loved ones, and with themselves. Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work.

Suffering need not be meaningless but can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of the world. The Catholic View is best expressed by Saint John Paul II when showed us all in public what it meant to die with dignity and suffer the pain and humiliation of a diminishing human life right before the very eyes of the whole Church of the faithful. St. John Paul explains suffering brought on by natural aging below:

“Suffering is part of human existence from birth until death, and every human person suffers in a variety of ways: physically, psychologically, socially, and spiritually. Suffering in one form or another accompanies each of us every day. It is an inescapable feature of human existence”…The suffering of Christ leads to his glory; so, too, does the suffering of Christians”.

Below is a quote from Fr. Robert Spitzer S.J. regarding suffering with Jesus. “Jesus taught us that suffering can be offered to the Father as a loving self-sacrifice for the salvation of souls and the strength of the Mystical Body of Christ. This purpose of suffering also derives its remarkably positive power from the Resurrection and the risen Christ, who is the body through which all Christians, in this world and the next, are unified and nourished (see 1 Cor 12:27 and Rom 12:5). When we offer our sufferings to God in loving self-sacrifice, we strengthen every part of the risen body of Christ (see Col 1:24), which has exceedingly positive value. The greater our suffering—offered as loving self-sacrifice in imitation of Jesus—the more positive the effects upon the Mystical Body of Christ.” (Spitzer, Robert J, The Light Shines On in the Darkness: Transforming Suffering through Faith)

When patients and their families are faced with a terminal illness such as cancer or other progressive, non-malignant conditions, pain management is paramount. Pain is subjective; each person’s experience is unique. Moreover, physical pain can cause depression, anxiety, and may negatively affect relationships.

Catholic moral teaching accepts that although pain management can relieve physical suffering, it can also result in the patient’s loss of consciousness. If unconsciousness or a shortened life is not the intention of the pain medication, administering high doses is morally permissible.

 

In Evangelium Vitae, Pope St. John Paul II reiterated: “In such a case (use of painkillers and sedatives), death is not willed or sought, even though for reasonable motives one runs the risk of it: there is simply a desire to ease pain effectively by using the analgesics which medicine provides” (65).

Since nutrition and hydration are basic human needs, we often feel an overwhelming desire to give our dying loved ones food and water. However, when death is imminent, food and water are unnecessary and may even add to the person’s suffering. Saint John Paul said in 2004, “nutrition and hydration should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, providing nutrition and hydration is not always prudent.”

If a medical treatment is physically painful, unlikely to be successful, is experimental, has severe side effects, causes a financial burden, or is psychologically difficult, it is deemed extraordinary and there is no moral obligation to accept it. While the Church upholds that all life is sacred and must be protected, patients and their families are not obligated to undergo treatments where the burden outweighs the benefit.

Fear is natural and intense in the case of the terminally ill, afraid of being kept alive by burdensome medical technology, of spending the inheritance you have targeted for your family, the fear of experiencing intolerable pain, of lingering with severe dementia. When people are tempted to see their own lives as diminished in value or meaning, they most need the love and assistance of others to assure them of their inherent worth.

Our hope and prayer is that when we grow old or sick that we be surrounded by people who care and respect each and every human life. We deserve to grow old in a society that views our cares and needs with a compassion grounded in respect, offering genuine support in our final days.

JESUS, MARY, AND JOSEPH
PRAY FOR ME AT THE HOUR OF MY DEATH!