EUTHANASIA

DEFINITION

• Euthanasia is the practice of killing someone who is very ill and will never get better in order to end their suffering, usually done at their request or with their consent.

INTRODUCTION

• The British House of Lords Select Committee on Medical Ethics defines euthanasia as "a deliberate intervention undertaken with the express intention of ending a life, to relieve intractable suffering."
• In the Netherlands and Flanders, euthanasia is understood as "termination of life by a doctor at the request of a patient".

EUTHANASIA LAWS

• Euthanasia is categorized in different ways, which include voluntary, non-voluntary, or involuntary. Voluntary euthanasia is legal in some countries, U.S. states, and Canadian Provinces. Non-voluntary euthanasia is illegal in all countries. Involuntary euthanasia is usually considered murder. As of 2006, euthanasia is the most active area of research in contemporary bioethics.

CATHOLIC STANDPOINT

• As Catholic leaders and moral teachers, we believe that life is the most basic gift of a loving God--a gift over which we have stewardship but not absolute dominion. Our tradition, declaring a moral obligation to care for our own life and health and to seek such care from others, recognizes that we are not morally obligated to use all available medical procedures in every set of circumstances.

DOCTRINE BASED

• As the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has said, "nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying." Moreover, we have no right "to ask for this act of killing" for ourselves or for those entrusted to our care; "nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action."

THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

• Legalizing euthanasia would also violate American convictions about human rights and equality. The Declaration of Independence proclaims our inalienable rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." If our right to life itself is diminished in value, our other rights will have no meaning. To destroy the boundary between healing and killing would mark a radical departure from longstanding legal and medical traditions of our country, posing a threat of unforeseeable magnitude to vulnerable members of our society.

FINAL JUDGEMENT

• As the Second Vatican Council declared, "euthanasia and willful suicide" are "offenses against life itself" which "poison civilization"; they "debase the perpetrators more than the victims and militate against the honor of the creator"

PROPOSALS FOR CATHOLICE

• We call on Catholics, and on all persons of good will, to reject proposals to legalize euthanasia. We urge families to discuss issues surrounding the care of terminally ill loved ones in light of sound moral principles and the demands of human dignity, so that patients need not feel helpless or abandoned in the face of complex decisions about their future.

CALL FOR THE WORLD

• And we urge health care professionals, legislators, and all involved in this debate, to seek solutions to the problems of terminally ill patients and their families that respect the inherent worth of all human beings, especially those most in need of our love and assistance.

SOURCES

• http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/end-of-life/e...
• http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euthanasia
• http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2004/march/documents/...