{"id":1917,"date":"2010-06-28T10:48:34","date_gmt":"2010-06-28T14:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=1917"},"modified":"2010-06-28T10:48:34","modified_gmt":"2010-06-28T14:48:34","slug":"law-faith-and-the-good-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Law, faith and the good death"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

WINNIPEG, Manitoba \u2014<\/strong> As the end of his life drew near, Pope Pius XII began addressing complex medical questions that were personal, theological, practical and scientific, all at the same time.<\/p>\n

For example, how far could doctors go to relieve a dying patient\u2019s pain? <\/p>\n

Months before his death in 1958, the pope wrote: \u201cIs the suppression of pain and consciousness by means of narcotics (when it is demanded by a medical indication) permitted, by religion and morality, to the patient and the doctor (even at the approach of death and when one foresees that the administration of narcotics will shorten life)?\u201d His answer was \u201cyes,\u201d if that was what it took to truly relieve suffering.<\/p>\n

Pius XII also knew that doctors were pondering ways to apply ancient truths to issues raised by new technologies, said Ian Dowbiggin, author of \u201cLife, Death, God and Medicine: A Concise History of Euthanasia<\/a>.\u201d The historian from the University of Prince Edward Island spoke to media professionals gathered at this week\u2019s G8 \u201cWorld Religions Summit\u201d at the University of Winnipeg.<\/p>\n

Many of these puzzles remain, which is why ethicists still study another 1957 address by Pius XII to the International Congress of Anesthesiologists, in which he asked when it was necessary to make extraordinary efforts to resuscitate patients. <\/p>\n

The pope concluded that if it \u201cappears that the attempt at resuscitation constitutes \u2026 such a burden for the family that one cannot in all conscience impose it upon them, they can lawfully insist that the doctor should discontinue these attempts, and the doctor can lawfully comply. There is not involved here a case of direct disposal of the life of the patient, nor of euthanasia in any way: this would never be licit. Even when it causes the arrest of circulation, the interruption of attempts at resuscitation is never more than an indirect cause of the cessation of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dowbiggin stressed that Pius XII was already engaging complex issues that continue to impact debates \u2014 in Canada, the United States and elsewhere \u2014 about legalizing physician-assisted suicide. While this decade has seen a \u201cperfect storm\u201d of conflicts about a \u201cright to die,\u201d it is essential that citizens, clergy and public officials study the history of euthanasia before making policy decisions that will touch millions of lives in the future, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are deep moral and religious issues at stake in debates about physician-assisted suicide, which is why religious believers have always been involved,\u201d said Dowbiggin. \u201cBut what we are hearing today are prominent voices that say that religious people must keep their ideas to themselves, because religion is a private thing \u2014 period \u2014 and must not affect public life. If that idea is accepted, that\u2019s a major step toward the acceptance of physician-assisted suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The word \u201ceuthanasia\u201d comes from two Greek words that simply mean \u201cgood death,\u201d noted the historian. For centuries, Catholics and others have argued that a \u201cgood death\u201d is one that is as pain-free and dignified as possible. Thus, religious groups have been at the forefront of efforts to offer in-home hospice care.<\/p>\n

However, several trends have aided efforts to legalize physician-assisted suicide, especially scientific advances that have increased the \u201cgraying of America,\u201d said Dowbiggin. Thus, people are living longer lives, which also means they are more likely to face lengthy battles with cancer and neurological conditions such as Alzheimer\u2019s and Parkinson\u2019s disease.<\/p>\n

Rising health-care costs have also affected \u201cquality of life\u201d debates. After all, as President Barack Obama told the New York Times<\/em>, the \u201cchronically ill and those toward the end of their lives are accounting for potentially 80 percent of the total health care bill out here.\u201d The stakes are rising.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Hemlock Society has evolved into End of Life Choices, an organization that merged with Compassion in Dying to form Compassion & Choices. Physician-assisted suicide became the \u201cright to die\u201d which has now evolved into calls for a legal \u201cself deliverance\u201d option.<\/p>\n

If religious leaders want to keep taking part in these policy discussions, said Dowbiggin, \u201cthey must have something positive to say. It is not enough to just keep saying \u2018no.\u2019 \u2026 They need a vision of what the \u2018good death\u2019 looks like. They need to say that this is the goal of all end-of-life care \u2014 people making informed moral decisions about hospice and other forms of care that are right for themselves and for their families.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WINNIPEG, Manitoba \u2014 As the end of his life drew near, Pope Pius XII began addressing complex medical questions that were personal, theological, practical and scientific, all at the same time. For example, how far could doctors go to relieve a dying patient\u2019s pain? Months before his death in 1958, the pope wrote: \u201cIs the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[37,153,160,278,339,441,500],"class_list":["post-1917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-godbeat","tag-abortion","tag-canada","tag-catholic-church","tag-culture-of-death","tag-euthanasia","tag-hospice","tag-law"],"yoast_head":"\nLaw, faith and the good death<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- As the end of his life drew near, Pope Pius XII began addressing complex medical questions that were personal, theological,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Law, faith and the good death\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- As the end of his life drew near, Pope Pius XII began addressing complex medical questions that were personal, theological,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Terry Mattingly\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-06-28T14:48:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"tmatt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/\",\"name\":\"Law, faith and the good death\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-06-28T14:48:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-06-28T14:48:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\"},\"description\":\"WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- As the end of his life drew near, Pope Pius XII began addressing complex medical questions that were personal, theological,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/06\/law-faith-and-the-good-death\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Law, faith and the good death\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/\",\"name\":\"Terry Mattingly\",\"description\":\"On Religion\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/#\/schema\/person\/76ce2260a572ff41a28fb285de9350f1\",\"name\":\"tmatt\",\"description\":\"Terry Mattingly directs the Washington Journalism Center at the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. 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