Boston's Archbishop, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, sat down for an interview with a Boston political reporter to talk about the defeat of a ballot measure that would have legalized assisted suicide in Massachusetts, his new role as head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on pro-life activities, and the role of Catholics in the recent elections.
Click here to watch the interview.
Comments
I can't imagine that the push for assisted suicide won't eventually succeed in Massachusetts, as elsewhere. It's one paradoxical consequence of a health-care system that drags out life to the last possible gasp in spite of the suffering that causes. If medicine gave a thousandth of the attention to the dignity of human life and the comfort of the patient that it gives to technological progress, there'd be little call for legalizing suicide.
My wife and I, both elderly, have signed documents asking for NO extraordinary procedures to preserve our lives for a few months or more. . This is clear Catholic doctrine but it appears the Wisconsin bishops are muddying the waters if NYT is accurate. Why do I think the NYT has it right and Wisconsin bishops most likely got it wrong. ? Talk about losing credibility
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/opinion/sunday/end-of-life-health-care.html?src=me&ref=general
My shorthand instructions to the provider is 'don't do much of anything they can't do in a village in Bangladesh'. palliative care... that's the ticket. and even follows the Catholic Catechism section the bishops quote. ,
Here's the Wisconsin Bishops' take on the matter.
http://www.wisconsincatholic.org/WCC%20Upholding%20Dignity%20POLST%20Statement%20FINAL%207-23.pdf