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.
Here's the Wisconsin Bishops' take on the matter.
http://www.wisconsincatholic.org/WCC%20Upholding%20Dignity%20POLST%20Statement%20FINAL%207-23.pdf
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. ,
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
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.