{"id":11333,"date":"2015-08-17T21:53:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T21:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/killing-sick-people-is-not-compassionate-new-mexico-bishops-affirm-29144\/"},"modified":"2015-08-17T21:53:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T21:53:00","slug":"killing-sick-people-is-not-compassionate-new-mexico-bishops-affirm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2015\/08\/killing-sick-people-is-not-compassionate-new-mexico-bishops-affirm\/","title":{"rendered":"Killing sick people is not compassionate, New Mexico bishops affirm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

Santa Fe, NM, Aug 17, 2015 \/ 03:53 pm (CNA<\/a>).- It is in Christ that true compassion for the dying is found \u2013 not in assisted suicide, said the Catholic bishops of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

\tTheir comments came after the state\u2019s Court of Appeals struck down a lower court\u2019s ruling that assisted suicide is a constitutional right.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWe conclude that aid in dying is not a fundamental liberty interest under the New Mexico Constitution,\u201d Judge Timothy L. Garcia said in the 2-1 majority decision Aug. 11.<\/p>\n

\tThe state\u2019s Catholic bishops thanked God for the court\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cOnly God can give or take life and the state does not have the competency to shorten this precious gift, even for seemingly laudable purposes. While each stage of life is sacred, the end of life is filled with special meaning and opportunities,\u201d the bishops said Aug. 13.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cChrist showed what true compassion is when he died for us that we might live forever with him in heaven. The way to prepare for that ultimate reality is to live our lives as fully as possible until God calls us home.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThey said that assisted suicide is not compassionate. Rather, it allows suffering to \u201cblind us to the meaning of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tIn January 2014, a New Mexico court ruled that a 1963 law making assisted suicide a felony was invalid when applied to doctors who administered a lethal dose of drugs to medically competent, terminally ill patients, the Washington Times reports. The ruling came in response to a lawsuit on behalf of two doctors and a cancer patient in her 50s who were seeking to legalize requests for lethal treatment.<\/p>\n

\tThe patient\u2019s cancer is now in remission.<\/p>\n

\tThe lawsuit had the support of the American Civil Liberties Union and Compassion & Choices, the organization once known as the Hemlock Society.<\/p>\n

\tIn the latest ruling, Judge Linda M. Vanzi dissented. She said that the state\u2019s interests in preserving life and preventing suicide are \u201cinsufficient\u201d to justify what she characterized as \u201cinfringing the right to aid in dying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tNew Mexico\u2019s bishops reflected on Christian duties to the suffering and recounted the Church\u2019s history of health care and service to the dying. They also encouraged people to take a Christian view of pain and suffering.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAll too often, our society sees pain as the enemy while in fact suffering often accompanies genuine growth and new opportunities. The answer to suffering is not death but rather the grateful acceptance of life while at the same time managing pain through proper medications and the support of loved ones.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tThe process of dying is a \u201ccommunal event\u201d for loved ones to accompany a dying person in his or her final days.<\/p>\n

\tThe bishops stressed the need for true compassion that \u201cinvites us all to journey with our loved ones as they prepare for eternal life, sharing and easing their suffering as we assure them that we are with them every step of the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tCatherine Glenn Foster, litigation counsel for the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom, said that New Mexico law \u201cclearly criminalizes deliberate assistance in someone else\u2019s suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThe court was right to reverse the lower court\u2019s decision which invented a right to doctor-prescribed death that does not exist,\u201d Foster said. \u201cFamilies will now have the opportunity to honor and cherish their loved ones in their final days.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tShe said suffering patients need \u201cunderstanding and sound medical treatment, not encouragement to kill themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

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Santa Fe, NM, Aug 17, 2015 \/ 03:53 pm (CNA).- It is in Christ that true compassion for the dying is found – not in assisted suicide, said the Catholic bishops of New Mexico.<\/p>\n

\tTheir comments came after the state’s Court of Appeals struck d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nKilling sick people is not compassionate, New Mexico bishops affirm<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Santa Fe, NM, Aug 17, 2015 \/ 03:53 pm (CNA).- It is in Christ that true compassion for the dying is found – not in assisted suicide, said the Catholic bishops of New Mexico. 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