Office of Respect for Life Diocese of Metuchen, NJ

Office of Respect for Life Diocese of Metuchen, NJ

A. Present Catholic Teaching on Life B. Discuss- Making Moral Decisions C. Review the use of Living Wills/Advance Directives D. Discuss the Dangers of Physician- Assisted Suicide (PAS)

If I knew I was gonna live this long, I d have taken better care of myself. Jazz musician Euble Blake In The beginning God in the end God. Bishop Desmond Tutu Everybody has got to die, but I always believed that an exception would be made in my case Author William Saroyan Death is just a distant rumor to the young Andy Rooney Don t let go too soon, but don t hang on too long. Tuesdays with Morrie Mitch Albom Often it comes down to a question of whether or not I can let go to this clinging on to life. Or can I let go of my mother or father? Do I trust that if I let go I will be upheld with grace and peace? Chaplain Hank Dunn

Can be a time of pain and sadness But can be a time of solidarity and grace

FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR CATHOLIC TEACHING ON LIFE

God is the Creator and human persons owe their creation to God. Human life is a gift, a sacred trust (Not a given a gift) Human persons have a right to the use of the gift of life, not a right to dominion over life. Human responsibility for life is one of stewardship, not ownership.

Respect for human life from the moment of conception until natural death is a fundamental commitment of the Catholic Church. Each person has worth and dignity because she or he is made in the image of God. The value and dignity of human life result solely from God s creating and sustaining love.

The obligation to nurture and support life The obligation not to harm or destroy life

Human persons have an obligation to protect life and an obligation not to destroy it. The Commandment You shall not kill does not prohibit all killing but only allows it for the protection of the person and the community (selfdefense). The Commandment protects the bonds of a community by prohibiting the arbitrary taking of life by an individual.

Killing is any intentional action or omission bringing about the death of another. Allowing to die is withholding or withdrawing futile or over-burdensome treatment.

Ordinary means (or proportionate) are all medicines, treatments, procedures, and technology that offer a reasonable hope of benefit and which can be obtained without excessive pain, expense or burden. Extraordinary means (or disproportionate) refers to all medicines, treatments, procedures and technology that do not offer a reasonable hope of benefit or cannot be obtained or used without excessive pain, expense or burden.

Catholics have a moral obligation to use ordinary means to preserve their lives. They also may choose to use extraordinary means, but they have no obligation to do so. But normally one is held to use only ordinary means according to the circumstances of persons, places, times, and culture that is to say, means that do not involve any grave burden for oneself or another. (Pope Pius XII)

There must be due proportion between the benefit to be achieved and the burden borne to achieve it. When the burden of the treatment outweighs the benefit, the treatment may be withdrawn.

Each of us decides the benefits and burdens of treatment according to our own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health at the time of the decision. A particular treatment for one person may be a benefit while the same treatment for another person may be a burden.

Assisted suicide is participating in the taking of the life of another. The intention is to cause death.

--If the intent is to cause the person to die, this is assisted suicide and not morally permissible. --But if the intention is to allow nature to take its course, that is, to allow the person to die of his/her underlying disease process without unnecessarily prolonging the inevitable process of dying, then it is allowable to withhold or withdraw a treatment or procedure.

Intention distinguishes what one does from what one allows to happen. The prohibition against killing applies to direct or intentional killing; a deliberately caused death. Intention, not consequences, determines a morally right or wrong act. (Double effect)

Each decision must apply the principles, but must be made on an individual basis after evaluating all of the circumstances.

Human persons are created as social beings, a community of loving persons. Because we live in a community of interdependent persons, no one person s freedom is absolute. Other persons welfare must be taken into consideration. Individual freedom must be balanced with the common good. Scandal.

Our principles are based on reason informed by faith, but our behavior must give witness to our convictions.

Gather facts Reflect on Scripture and Catholic Social Teaching Determine the consistency with fundamental moral principles Examine your motives and emotions Discuss with others Pray Make a decision

Weigh a lot of factors to come up with a concrete decision: (see handout) Rate of success Age of patient Risk factors Nature of illness Type of recovery Resources of family

A living will is a written directive that indicates your preferences for treatment or non-treatment in the event that you are terminally ill and death will occur in a short time.

A durable power of attorney for health care is a written document that allows you to designate someone to make health care decisions on your behalf if you are unable to make them yourself. The person you choose is usually called your agent.

Free consultation: The National Catholic Bioethics Center, Philadelphia www.ncbcenter.org Phone (215) 877-2660

Assisted Suicide is when someone provides the means or information for another person to commit suicide. When a doctor is involved it is called physician (or doctor)-assisted suicide. Euthanasia: practice of intentionally causing death to relieve pain.

http://www.micatholicconference.org/medi a-gallery/assisted-suicide/

History of PAS in the U.S. 1987 1992: Attempts fail in California, Washington Assisted suicide measure finally approved in Oregon in 1994. Keys to the measure s approval: Limited to physician-assisted suicide (PAS) (no lethal injections by doctors) Focus on (alleged) safeguards Anti-religious sentiment

Oregon Death with Dignity Act Carves out a class of people those expected by a doctor to have less than six months to live who can obtain a lethal dose and kill themselves Death certificate falsified Never counted as a suicide Doctor prescribing the drug controls all reporting

Efforts in Other states 1994-2007 Referenda defeated in Michigan and Maine Legalization proposals defeated in all other state legislatures From 1994 to 2004, at least 13 new state laws passed to BAN assisted suicide or strengthen old laws: (GA, IA, KS, KY, LA, MD, OH, OK, RI, SC, SD, TN, VA) 1997: U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld laws against PAS as valid

After 2008 PAS Agenda Hemlock Society grows up : New funding and sophistication; run not by activists but by attorneys, nurses, etc. (Kevorkian and Humphry edged out) Careful, nationally coordinated selection of venues: Unchurched and libertarian segments of Northwest and New England (Washington, New Hampshire, Vermont) Hemlock s new gentler name: Compassion and Choices (allowing infiltration of medical and hospice groups, living will policy discussions, health care reform) Hemlock Society, a.k.a.:

NJ Death with Dignity Act A3328/S2259 A 3328 was introduced in Sept. 2012 by Assemblyman John Burzichelli. It was voted out of the Health, Human and Senior Services Assembly Committee on Feb. 7th. Senate version is cosponsored by Senators Vitale (district 19) and Scutari (district 22). It is presently designed as a voter referendum but may be amended. A December poll in NJ had 46 to 38 of those polled in favor of PAS. Massachusetts just defeated a similar ballot question 51 to 49%. Modeled after Oregon (1997) and Washington (2009) laws. States considering similar bills include Connecticut, Vermont, Kansas and Hawaii. There are also bills related to the issue under consideration in New Hampshire, New York, Arizona and Montana. Currently Montana allows for judicially monitored PAS (2009).

NJ Death with Dignity Act A3328/S2259 A3328 allows a competent, adult, NJ resident, diagnosed with a terminal illness and less than 6 months to live, to request a lethal prescription. Patient makes a verbal request and then after 15 day- waiting period makes another verbal and written request signed by two witnesses. If patient chooses to proceed, a second doctor would need to certify the diagnosis. If doctor deems that the patient has impaired judgment, he would be required to refer for counseling.

NJ Death with Dignity Act A3328/S2259 Misdiagnosis is possible. Doctors can be wrong. Treatment can lead to recovery in some cases. Those with disabilities and mental illness are vulnerable. It is also a recipe for elder abuse. There is no oversight once the drugs are prescribed. No requirement to notify family members it is only recommended. No requirement for physician to be present. Physician does not administer the prescription. There is no requirement that a witness be present at the time the drugs are administered.

NJ Death with Dignity Act A3328/S2259 There is no sure-fire suicide pill. Prescription is for a lethal dose of barbiturates -about 100 capsules of Seconal. Cost is about $100. for a 10 gram lethal dose. Patient needs to dissolve capsules in water. The Patient slips into coma and death may take up to 48 hours to occur. Complications may occur. Death Certificates will not include information about suicide, only the underlying terminal illness will be sited.

Elements of a Renewed Church Response USCCB assistance to states facing proposals (analysis and advice, help in raising funds, educational materials) Coalition building: National Catholic Partnership on Disability, Nightingale Alliance, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, Not Dead Yet and other disability rights advocates, Patients Rights Council, sympathetic medical groups and experts, etc. Bishops statement making the case against legalization and mobilizing Catholic community

Key Elements of Bishops Statement Begins and ends by acknowledging people s fears about the dying process, and supporting genuine solutions Recounts policy background and the revival of this debate A radical change in society opposed not only by Catholic teaching but by many religions, moral concerns of millions, Hippocratic oath undergirding medicine as a profession Proponents evade seriousness of issue through euphemism

Physician-Assisted Suicide Does Not Promote Free Choices Because Most people who attempt suicide suffer from depression and mental disturbance they need to be freed from these influences Undue influence and pressure from a society that has officially declared the suicides of some people to be good and acceptable, unlike suicides by others, negatively impacts decisions Our first right is life itself undermining the value of some people s lives will undermine respect for their freedom as well

Physician-Assisted Suicide Fails to Promote Compassion Because True com-passion suffering with the patient and dedicating oneself to meeting his or her needs, presupposes a commitment to the equal worth of that person. True compassion leads to sharing another's pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. John Paul II, EV 66

Compassion not rooted in such respect for the person inevitably finds more and more cases where suffering is serious enough to justify assisted death Can increase suffering by worsening the emotional and spiritual suffering of feeling worthless and a burden, and by undermining commitment to palliative care

Offering A Better Way Statement ends by advancing what Blessed John Paul II called the way of love and true mercy A call for Catholics to work with others to uphold the right of each of us to live with dignity to the end of our days: We can help build a world in which love is stronger than death.

Is Victory Achievable? YES! Lesson of Massachusetts MA defeated a similar ballot question 51% to 49% www.suicideisalwaysatragedy.org

Insights from Evangelium Vitae To concur with the intention of another person to commit suicide and to help in carrying it out through so-called assisted suicide means to cooperate in, and at times to be the actual perpetrator of, an injustice which can never be excused, even if it is requested. 66

The Culture of Death, he said, sees the growing number of elderly and disabled people as intolerable and too burdensome. These people are very often isolated by their families and by society, which are organized almost exclusively on the basis of criteria of productive efficiency, according to which a hopelessly impaired life no longer has any value. John Paul II, EV 64

Human Dignity Human Dignity is an endowment not an achievement. No disability, no illness obliterates it, nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ.

Suicide is always a tragedy Suicide is something you talk yourself out of, not into.

Studies show that fear of pain is not the primary reason for choosing physician-assisted suicide. Rather, disability-related reasons losing autonomy, losing dignity and burden on family are more often cited.

Action steps YOU can take Read To Live Each Day with Dignity and sponsor study groups Contact your State Catholic Conference and join your diocesan legislative network Contact diocesan offices for resources and training Write letters to the editor

Helpful websites: Visit: www.usccb.org/toliveeachday www.ncpd.org http://diometuchen.org/physician-assistedsuicide http://www.newjerseyagainstassistedsuicide.org/

More to do to make a difference Take information packets to your elected officials Be a presence of true compassion and support to someone who is elderly, lives with a significant disability or is near death. Join people with chronic illness or disability in the fight against the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

If anyone you encounter has suicidal thoughts reach out to him or her encourage life-affirming treatment through counseling and medication as needed

Loving God. We ask for your blessing as we work to build a culture of life. Give us loving hearts that we may show true compassion to those who are suffering and near death. Give us just hearts to respect the inherent dignity of all. And grant us the wisdom, strength, and courage to protect and defend the gift of human life in all its stages. Amen