End of Life issues

Death is neither to be feared and avoided at all costs, nor to be sought and directly procured.

Euthanasia is not permitted.  Euthanasia is defined as the intentional ending of human life by act or omission in order to relieve suffering.

Decisions to administer, refuse, or discontinue life-sustaining treatment should be based on the concept of proportionality.  One does not have an obligation to pursue a life-sustaining treatment if its risks or burdens are disproportionate to its expected benefits.  The concept of burden is broad and must be individually assessed; it includes aspects such as the discomfort, risk, and expense of the treatment in question.
 

The failure to provide a patient with nutrition and hydration, for the purpose of ending the patient’s life or accelerating the patient’s death, constitutes euthanasia and is always wrong, even when nourishment must be provided by artificial means.  However, situations can arise where the provision of nutrition and hydration no longer provides substantial benefits and is actually burdensome to a dying patient.  In such cases, the provision of food and water, by artificial means or otherwise, may no longer be appropriate, even if the dying process is incidentally hastened.

It is not always easy for patients, family or health care agents to apply the principles of proportionality to a particular situation. Consultation with medical advisors is almost always required in order to evaluate potential benefits, burdens and risks.  Consultation with competent spiritual advisors may help patients, family or health care agents arrive at objective and honest decisions.

While promoted in the name of personal autonomy, physician-assisted suicide (providing lethal drugs so patients can take their own lives) and euthanasia (direct killing of patients by doctors) do not remain limited to cases in which the victim gave his or her voluntary consent. This agenda ultimately embraces coercion and the death of unwilling victims.

The Catholic Ethical and Religious Directives (ERD), Part 5, are another source of guidance for the end of life care:  "The Catholic health care ministry faces the reality of death with the confidence of faith.  In the face of death—for many, a time when hope seems lost—the church witnesses to her belief that God has created each person for eternal life... The truth that life is a precious gift from God has profound implications for the question of stewardship over human life.  We are not the owners of our lives and, hence, do not have absolute power over life.  We have a duty to preserve our life and to use for the
glory of God, but the duty to preserve our life is not absolute, for we may reject life-prolonging procedures that are insufficiently beneficial or excessively burdensome.  Suicide and euthanasia are never morally acceptable options."