In light of recent legislation legalizing assisted suicide in New York, Catholic bishops urged Catholics to make end-of-life decisions prayerfully and with the Church’s guidance.
one in recently published In an updated end-of-life guidebook, the Catholic bishops of New York State outlined the Catholic Church’s teaching on assisted suicide as well as what care is morally mandatory or morally optional.
Update Handbook, “now and at the time of our death,” according to its introduction, is designed ”to explain the ethical principles of Catholic teaching regarding end-of-life decision making and to outline the options available in New York State for advance care planning.” The pamphlet also encourages Catholics to appoint proxies who are informed about their values to make medical decisions if they are unable to make them.
The guidebook’s introduction reads, “Medical advances bring with them new and complex questions regarding medical treatment and ethical decision making.”
The guidebook specifically addresses the ethical problem of assisted suicide, but also goes into detail about other important end-of-life decisions.
The guidebook reads, “Assisted suicide is the voluntary termination of one’s own life using physician-prescribed chemicals or medications that will cause death. This is considered active euthanasia.” “Our Church warns us in no uncertain terms that this practice is objectively immoral and should be avoided, despite the false veil of compassion with which it is sold.”
What types of medical interventions are morally required of Catholics?
According to the bishops’ guidebook, basic life-saving medical interventions, such as feeding tubes, are generally considered morally mandatory by the Catholic Church.
Bishop distinguishes between these morally required “ordinary” medical interventions and “extraordinary” or morally optional interventions. Determining which one is which requires “an assessment of the expected benefits and burdens for each individual.”
Bishop says of end-of-life decisions, “It is not just a practical decision of costs and benefits but an ethical decision that affects our spiritual health.”
Bishop notes that “we must always accept (and provide to others) the ordinary medical means of preserving life.”
The bishop adds, “Modest means are those that provide us with a reasonable hope of benefit and do not impose excessive burdens on ourselves, our family, or the community.”
This pamphlet highlights the difference between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” treatments and its connection to assisted suicide.
Bishop says, “The immorality of directly intending one’s own death and assisting the death of another by deliberate action is self-evident.” “However, decisions can be much more complex when we consider removing or stopping medical treatments such as a ventilator or dialysis.”
The bishop adds, “Withholding normal care with the intent to cause death is considered passive euthanasia and is always contrary to God’s will.” “But Catholics are not morally obligated to prolong the dying process by using every medical treatment available. Allowing a natural death is not the same as murder.”
But Bishop notes that “extraordinary treatment” is “considered morally optional.”
“For example, it would be acceptable for a cancer patient to forgo particularly aggressive and expensive treatment if the patient feels that the survival rates are too low and the pain of treatment is too great a burden,” says Bishop.
The bishops emphasize that the distinction can be complex and encourage Catholics to seek guidance in these decisions.
Bishop says, “Weighing the burdens and benefits of particular medical treatments for each individual requires us to apply the virtue of prudence, using practical reason to discern the true good and choose the right path.” “Because such decisions are often sensitive and complex, Catholics may wish to seek guidance from a priest, pastor or ethicist whose advice is informed by Church teaching.”
For example, Bishop notes that patients have an obligation “in principle” to always have food and water available, including when patients require medical assistance or have irreversible conditions. Bishop also notes that this ethical standard may have exceptions in extreme cases, such as “when death is imminent” or if the gastric tube causes serious side effects; Nevertheless, as much hydration and nutrition as possible should be provided.
Bishop says, “Removal of a feeding tube, or any other type of life-sustaining treatment, based on the belief that the patient’s life no longer has value or with the intent to end the patient’s life is never permitted.”
How should Catholics make important medical decisions?
The bishops emphasize that the guide is “in no way a substitute for prayer.”
Bishop says, “Determining whether and when a particular treatment can ethically be stopped or withdrawn should be done in collaboration with the patient or surrogate, family members, health care providers, and a spiritual advisor.”
The bishops encourage Catholics to plan in advance and make sure that the surrogate decision-maker, which is a legal standard in New York, will respect “your values and beliefs.”
Bishop recommends the health care proxy as “the most ethically appropriate advance care planning tool in New York State.” The New York State Catholic Conference sent New York Catholics to fill a government Form Which enables citizens to appoint a trusted loved one to make health care decisions and also include instructions for their proxy.
Dennis Post, executive director of the New York State Catholic Conference, said the original issue of the guidebook has been a useful tool “for more than 15 years.”
“Our hope is that many thousands of Catholics in the years to come will find ‘Now and at the Hour of Our Death’ to be a useful guide in what is naturally a very stressful time,” Post Said. “We urge Catholics to read the booklet and familiarize themselves with Catholic teaching on these issues and the options available in New York before they or their loved ones face a health crisis.”
