Catholic Stance on Euthanasia/Physician Assisted Suicide

[ivory]

I have seen many a discussion on the Internet regarding the morality and legality of euthanasia, most of them quickly turning into a hive mind attack against conservative/Christian views on the subject (Despite the fact that liberal organizations such as the AMA, ACS, and WHO also have objections to it). I understand that euthanasia and assisted suicide is considered morally wrong, but what precisely does the Church have to say on the matter?

 

[Richard320]

Euthanasia

2276 Those whose lives are diminished or weakened deserve special respect. Sick or handicapped persons should be helped to lead lives as normal as possible.

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.

Thus an act or omission which, of itself or by intention, causes death in order to eliminate suffering constitutes a murder gravely contrary to the dignity of the human person and to the respect due to the living God, his Creator. The error of judgment into which one can fall in good faith does not change the nature of this murderous act, which must always be forbidden and excluded.

2278 Discontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of “over-zealous” treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.

2279 Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as inevitable Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such it should be encouraged.

Suicide

2280 Everyone is responsible for his life before God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.

2281 Suicide contradicts the natural inclination of the human being to preserve and perpetuate his life. It is gravely contrary to the just love of self. It likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation, and other human societies to which we continue to have obligations. Suicide is contrary to love for the living God.

2282 If suicide is committed with the intention of setting an example, especially to the young, it also takes on the gravity of scandal. Voluntary co-operation in suicide is contrary to the moral law.

Grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide.

2283 We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.

vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a5.htm

 

[L_Derunglaubige]

My thanks for starting this thread. I have serious questions that came up recently because of my mother’s death. I don’t know if any of you will be able to answer, but here goes.

My mother had several medical problems. She went through a period of years in which she got pneumonia every year. This left her lungs badly scarred, so toward the end it was difficult for her to even breath. In addition she had Peripheral Neuropathy, so she was in a lot of pain. She began experiencing Depression and wanted to die. She opted for a “No Extreme Measures” order. The Depression was handled with medication and she did show some improvement before the last illness struck.

When she did end up in the hospital again she was not getting enough oxygen on her own. She was put on a B-PAP machine, but the nurses couldn’t seem to properly regulate the amount of oxygen she was getting. She began getting indigestion from having air forced down her throat. This stopped her from wanting to eat. The staff of the hospital did the best they could. I’m not blaming them. After what seemed like a really good day for her she took a drastic turn for the worse. The Palliative Care Team came in and made sure that we, her children, all understood the choice she had made and that if she were to survive she would be in pain and discomfort all the time. It was suggested that she be taken to a hospice. The family agreed.

At the Hospice she was not given an IV. She was given a lot of morphine. The morphine kept her unconscious. With no nutrition and no water it was only a few days until she was dead. I thought “no extreme measures” meant no effort to resuscitate would be made. I had no idea that she would not be given any nutrients or water. I wasn’t there every minute and thought these things were being done when I wasn’t there. I realized they weren’t being done just minutes before the end and the doctors in the hospice didn’t have time to respond to my questions before she died.

Sorry this is taking so long. I felt I needed to explain the situation clearly. Didn’t the hospice actually kill my mother? Shouldn’t she have been given nutrition and water through an IV at least? Doesn’t ‘extreme measures’ mean efforts to resuscitate? I know my Mother is better off now, but it seems to me that the Hospice just provided her with an assisted suicide. Is there some other way to view what was done?

 

[LifeIsAbsurd]

She opted for a “No Extreme Measures” order. At the Hospice she was not given an IV. Shouldn’t she have been given nutrition and water through an IV at least?

What constitutes “extreme measures” (resuscitation, intubation, feeding tubes, etc.) is defined on a state-by-state basis, but was almost certainly itemized on whatever form your mom chose to sign instead of granting you power of attorney over her care.

 

[maryjk]

My thanks for starting this thread. I have serious questions that came up recently because of my mother’s death. I don’t know if any of you will be able to answer, but here goes.

My mother had several medical problems. She went through a period of years in which she got pneumonia every year. This left her lungs badly scarred, so toward the end it was difficult for her to even breath. In addition she had Peripheral Neuropathy, so she was in a lot of pain. She began experiencing Depression and wanted to die. She opted for a “No Extreme Measures” order. The Depression was handled with medication and she did show some improvement before the last illness struck.

When she did end up in the hospital again she was not getting enough oxygen on her own. She was put on a B-PAP machine, but the nurses couldn’t seem to properly regulate the amount of oxygen she was getting. She began getting indigestion from having air forced down her throat. This stopped her from wanting to eat. The staff of the hospital did the best they could. I’m not blaming them. After what seemed like a really good day for her she took a drastic turn for the worse. The Palliative Care Team came in and made sure that we, her children, all understood the choice she had made and that if she were to survive she would be in pain and discomfort all the time. It was suggested that she be taken to a hospice. The family agreed.

**At the Hospice she was not given an IV. **

I was with you right up until you said this.

My father just died, two months ago. He also had been sick for a while. He also was on a CPAP used as a respirator. He also lost interest in eating. He also had morphine.

She was given a lot of morphine. The morphine kept her unconscious. With no nutrition and no water it was only a few days until she was dead. I thought “no extreme measures” meant no effort to resuscitate would be made. I had no idea that she would not be given any nutrients or water. I wasn’t there every minute and thought these things were being done when I wasn’t there. I realized they weren’t being done just minutes before the end and the doctors in the hospice didn’t have time to respond to my questions before she died.

Sorry this is taking so long. I felt I needed to explain the situation clearly. Didn’t the hospice actually kill my mother? Shouldn’t she have been given nutrition and water through an IV at least? Doesn’t ‘extreme measures’ mean efforts to resuscitate? I know my Mother is better off now, but it seems to me that the Hospice just provided her with an assisted suicide. Is there some other way to view what was done?

Yes, hospice was wrong to not provide nutrition. No extreme measures means basically that they will not preform CPR if and when the patient’s heart stops.

Did that kill her? I don’t know. My father was in hospice for about 12 hours. It is possible that she died due to her illness and lack of nutrition was not a factor. It is possible that she was receiving nutrition, some other way. I would ask what happened.

 

[Abba]

At the Hospice she was not given an IV. She was given a lot of morphine. The morphine kept her unconscious. With no nutrition and no water it was only a few days until she was dead. I thought “no extreme measures” meant no effort to resuscitate would be made. I had no idea that she would not be given any nutrients or water. I wasn’t there every minute and thought these things were being done when I wasn’t there. I realized they weren’t being done just minutes before the end and the doctors in the hospice didn’t have time to respond to my questions before she died.

Sorry this is taking so long. I felt I needed to explain the situation clearly. Didn’t the hospice actually kill my mother? Shouldn’t she have been given nutrition and water through an IV at least? Doesn’t ‘extreme measures’ mean efforts to resuscitate? I know my Mother is better off now, but it seems to me that the Hospice just provided her with an assisted suicide. Is there some other way to view what was done?

I am sorry to read about your experience.

There is a way to view what was done. You can request a complete medical record. Hopefully, the medical record will be truthful and have recorded the quantity of morphine given and how it may have been increase to euthanize your mother.

My father was killed several months ago with a euthansia procedure which basically consisted of no nourishment and no hydration and high dosages of morphine. For the first four days of the procedure, my father and I did not even know that they were practicing euthanasia. We thought that he was not being given food and liquids because he was going to have an obstruction operation. The delay in scheduling the operation was caused by a misdiagnose of cancer and the doctors wanted to confirm that he did not have cancer. Father and I knew that it was not cancer and it was another misdiagnosis of theirs (he was originally admitted for a ‘slight pneumonia’; then, they following day the hospital doctors said that it was not pnemonia; that it was a bladder infection and cancer that the cancer had spread). We had contacted Father’s urologist/oncologist who told us the hospital doctors had misdiagnosed him and that he would call the hospital to let them know he did not have cancer.

We had been waiting for four days for the hospital doctors to realize Father did not have cancer and to schedule the obstruction operation. Father and I, of course, thought that he was being nourished through the IV. On the fourth day of this procedure, Father asked me to please ask the nurse when he will be allowed to drink water as he was very thirsty. The nurse told me that “We are not giving him water nor nourishment. We are letting him go but, he will not feel pain as we are giving him morphine for the pain of starvation and dehydration. It is not he that is going to be nourished but the tumor” I said to the nurse: Are you saying that you are not nourishing him through the IV? She said; “Oh, no, he is just getting a small drip of .05 grams of glocose and .05 grams of sodium. We are mainly using the IV for the morphine.” I told her: How can you do this? Doctor K said that he does not have cancer and he was examined for everything weeks ago at X hospital and they said that he does not have cancer." The nurse responded with an attitude: Well, who are you going to believe; Doctor K and X hospital or us? We were the ones who found it?" and she left the room. My father said; “call 911. Get me out of here. I’m counting on you. Get the police.”

My father was murdered and died a horrible death as I did everything I could to stop it. I hope to write a book sometime soon. I want to get the word out. We do not take our loves one to the hospital to be killed. I hope to get laws passed to protect people from being killed at the hands of doctors and nurses. Probate judges, lawyers and the police need to be better trained regarding this matter. It turns out, that they are just as ignorant as we are.

I requested an autopsy for the record and for justice. The result was that Father did not have cancer.

Here are some articles the reader may find interesting:

Important Decisions in the Dying Process
cancer.stanford.edu/information/EndofLifeCare/decisions.html

I think part of the problem with these definitions is the vagueness. People do not really understand and the Palliative Care Professionals have the attitude that life is not worth living if you are not being a productive member of society or living it up. No one had the right to decide my father’s life was not worth living.

Dad, I Really Didn’t Mean to Kill You
open.salon.com/blog/whatsonemore/2011/04/26/dad_i_really_didnt_mean_to_kill_you

Why Doctors So Often Get It Wrong
nytimes.com/2006/02/22/business/22leonhardt.html

Please pray for me. My heart is broken.

 

[L_Derunglaubige]

Abba:

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Since you didn’t know until it was too late and you tried to stop them but they wouldn’t stop, where you able to press charges against the doctors responsible? I agree with you that attention has to be drawn to this situation. Righting a book sounds great, but if you could press charges through the local DA’s office it would draw attention to the problem much faster. If you have already tried this, or if you do I would be interested in knowing how the DA responded to you. To my way of thinking situations like this must involve a certain amount of discussion among the Doctors involved. If they mutually decided to take your father’s life, then that would be conspiracy to murder and that is a federal crime and would get national coverage.

I’m sorry if this seems like I’m being vengeful, I’m not handling my own grief and confusion well. I really do feel that most people are unaware and I hope that if and when attention is brought to situations like these things will be changed. My heart goes out to you, I was hoping situations like mine were the result of misunderstanding, but now that I’ve heard from you I can’t help but think it is intentional. I think I’m going to have to seek out a grief support group and I am going to try to check out my Mom’s medical records as much as I can.

 

[TheTrueCentrist]

I have seen many a discussion on the Internet regarding the morality and legality of euthanasia, most of them quickly turning into a hive mind attack against conservative/Christian views on the subject (Despite the fact that liberal organizations such as the AMA, ACS, and WHO also have objections to it). I understand that euthanasia and assisted suicide is considered morally wrong, but what precisely does the Church have to say on the matter?

I wonder what the church would say when our medicine is sufficiently advanced to keep people medically alive indefinitely. Obviously there is the qualification “ordinary means” but if we had sufficiently commonplace life support, indefinite life extension could be quite commonplace.

 

[omgriley]

“Didn’t the hospice actually kill my mother? Shouldn’t she have been given nutrition and water through an IV at least? Doesn’t ‘extreme measures’ mean efforts to resuscitate?”

Ethically and legally speaking, a DNR (do not resuscitate) order constitutes not resuscitating. “Extreme measures” generally means taking on costly and physically or emotionally burdensome measures in order to put off inevitable death by a relatively small amount of time.

I know this is an old post but I’ve been having some questions of my own on this topic. Thanks for sharing your story, sorry for your loss.

 

[StrawberryJam]

I have seen many a discussion on the Internet regarding the morality and legality of euthanasia, most of them quickly turning into a hive mind attack against conservative/Christian views on the subject (Despite the fact that liberal organizations such as the AMA, ACS, and WHO also have objections to it). I understand that euthanasia and assisted suicide is considered morally wrong, but what precisely does the Church have to say on the matter?

You do realize this is the Philosophy forum. Not the what did I miss at CCD forum.

 

[Linusthe2nd]

You do realize this is the Philosophy forum. Not the what did I miss at CCD forum.

But philosophy does discuss morality. Blame Aristotle.

Linus2nd