The Dominican Healthcare Ministry has published a short pamphlet, called Life is Changed, Not Ended, intended to help Catholics consider their eternal end and make adequate preparations for their own death. This publication distills the experience and knowledge of the Dominican Friars who work full time in the hospitals, where Read more…
When illness or injury threaten to end our lives or the lives of our loved ones, we may well find ourselves confronted with difficult decisions. Should we try this treatment or not? Should we try to resuscitate Mom? Should we withdraw life-support? How, in the specific situations of our lives, Read more…
In our consideration of end-of-life health care, we seek to understand how we can determine which potentially life-sustaining measures are to be considered ordinary means of preserving life and which should be considered extraordinary means. From our previous posts, we know that the term “ordinary means” applies to safe, beneficial Read more…
When someone is experiencing life-threatening illness or injury, ethical questions about the preservation of life often arise. What kinds of treatments are worth trying? Is it okay to refuse possible life-saving measures? When is enough enough? When considering these kinds of questions, the Church invites us to distinguish between “ordinary” Read more…
I have set before you life and death . . . Choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19). With these words, Moses exhorts God’s people to follow God’s law and thereby receive His life-giving blessings. We might, however, take the liberty of reapplying these words in our consideration of health care ethics, where they Read more…
Human life is a precious gift from god. In its very first chapter, the Bible tells us, “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them” (Genesis 1:27). Human beings are made in God’s image, which accounts for the surpassing dignity and value of human Read more…
“For me, it has always been clear: life is worth it only if you want it.” Thus states Carlos Framb in a short, autobiographical story about assisted suicide as told to Camila Segura. His story was published by The New York Times Magazine on October 18, 2015, under the title, Read more…
Preservation of bodily life is among the most basic goals of health care. The means that are used to accomplish this goal can include a wide scope of medical acts, depending on the illness or injury that the patient presents. In addition to various medical means, however, preserving bodily life Read more…
I have set before you life and death . . . choose life! The choice that Moses set before the Israelites as they prepared to pass into the Promised Land (Deut 30:19) is a choice that is set before us today in a variety of ways. The exhortation to choose Read more…
Having considered the topic of advanced directives in health care in general, and the kinds of directives that can be made, let us draw some practical conclusions about what is to be done and when. Are there directives you should be making now, in advance of serious illness or injury? Read more…
We have considered in a general way the topic of advanced directives in health care. Let us now consider some of the particular kinds of directives that can be made, namely, (1) health care proxies, (2) living wills, and (3) the POLST paradigm. Health Care Proxies A health care proxy Read more…
Making advanced directives about one’s health care is frequently encouraged in our society and, in many ways, that is a good thing. Advanced communication about the kinds of medical treatment a person wishes to receive can be helpful in guiding that person’s loved ones and caretakers to make good decisions Read more…