Question on End of Life "stuff"

[JessicaCeleste]

I’ve always been of the mind that when it is time for me to die and go home to God, that I would much rather let nature take it’s course and die without the intervention of respirators, feeding tubes, drugs and doctors.

I recognise that the Church is vehemently against physician assistand suicide, but this would not be letting a doctor write me a lethal Rx or give me an OD on morphine. It would be me going quietly (er…hopefully quietly) on God’s schedule.

So, I guess my question is…Does the church have an “official” stance on a situation such as this? We are not obligated to accept medical care in the last years (or whenever our bodies seriously fail us), are we?

I’m sorry, I am sure that this is a potentially morbid topic for people. I don’t mean it to be - weirdly enought, I think about stuff like this all the time (wills, Living wills, etc). Death has always been something natural to me, and hasn’t ever really caused me to be afraid. Plus, with my 6 month anniversary coming up, I want to make sure I’ve got everything (documents, wills, power of attorney stuff) taken care of and as close to the church’s guidelines as possible.

Okay…Random babblings are done Have a great day, everyone!

God Bless!

~Jess

 

[Faithful_2_Rome]

Yes they do have an official stance…its murder

A doctor doesnt need to write Rx scripts for killer drugs to be considered as assisting in helping someone die…them just standing there and doing NOTHING is the same as well.

 

[Timidity]

JessicaCeleste:

So, I guess my question is…Does the church have an “official” stance on a situation such as this? We are not obligated to accept medical care in the last years (or whenever our bodies seriously fail us), are we?

Yes, the Church does have an official stance:

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.
Note the feeding and hydrating is not considered “over-zealous”. I would recommend you read the Catechism. The paragraph above is Paragraph 2278, but (like the Bible) it’s important to read these things in context:

usccb.org/catechism/text/pt3sect2chpt2art5.htm#2276

 

[HagiaSophia]

ncbcenter.org/home.html

Is a link to the National Catholic Bioethics Center – there you will find John Paul’s 2004 statement and an analysis of the major points which will help you to understand some of the specifics you are asking about.