What do you do when a loved one has a terminal disease, is in prolonged, acute pain, and needs a ventilator and feeding tubes to be kept alive? Have far do we go to prolong life with technology—is the law of sustaining life to only go so far and no further?
This is a perennial and complex question that vexes both private citizens and ethicists, both secular and religious. Thankfully, the Church offers clear teaching on the matter. We can distinguish between ordinary measures, providing food, water and special treatment—including ventilation if there is an expectation of healing and not just the prolonging of death—and extraordinary measures, which might be possible but disproportionate to the expected outcome, and can be opted against. The criteria are both reasonable and compassionate.
As Christians, we are not afraid of natural death, for it is the entry into new life. At the same time, we do not believe that suffering invalidates the inherent value of a human life. As our society increasingly loses its sense of this value, moves to adopt a more Dutch model of assisted suicide are making strides once again. Of note, the British Columbia Supreme Court as well as the Quebec National Assembly recently ruled in favour of legalizing physician-assisted suicide.
