Physician-assisted suicide: What Catholics need to know

Often at Mass, we pray for the “respect of life from conception to natural death.” Catholics understand that life is sacred, has dignity, and ought to be protected. But what is meant by a “natural” death? Death is a part of life, but with medical advances, people are living longer with chronic illnesses than did those in previous generations. The “end of life” period today can be more challenging to define and predict. To complicate matters further, secular society increasingly views suffering as a difficulty to be avoided at all costs, even if, as physician-assisted suicide (PAS) and euthanasia demonstrate, this means killing the sufferer.

PAS first became legal in the United States in Oregon in 1997. Since that time, 10 additional jurisdictions have legalized it (California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Montana, Maine, New Jersey, New Mexico, Vermont, and Washington) and more states are working to advance it.
 
In PAS, a physician writes for a lethal dose of a medication that the patient takes with the intent of prematurely ending his or her life. Eligibility varies by state, but typically the patient must be 18 years of age and have an advanced illness that is terminal, with an estimated prognosis of six months or less. In some states, mandatory psychological screening is required.

Euthanasia (from the Greek eu “good” and thanatos “death”) differs notably from PAS in that a physician actively administers a lethal agent with the intention of ending a patient’s life. While illegal in the United States, it is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, New Zealand, Australia, Colombia, and Canada. The Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia in 2002, and its laws now extend to those with “unbearable suffering,” including children and neonates, those depressed, 
and those demented.

In its 2020 letter Samaritanus bonus, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed the Church’s opposition to PAS and euthanasia and promoted life-affirming palliative care. Palliative care’s goal is to “to alleviate suffering…and at the same time to ensure the patient appropriate human accompaniment.” Palliative care provides physical, emotional, and spiritual support to a suffering person and his or her family, improving quality of life and well-being in a dignified manner.

Catholics must advocate for pro-life palliative care for all in need of it. We must resist the societal traps wherein debility is viewed as diminishing one’s worth wherein one’s value is based on what one does, rather than on one’s inherent being, and wherein misguided compassion and radical individualism lead one to think of PAS or euthanasia as valid options.
 
May we pray that human dignity is upheld, and that awareness grows around promoting and defending life at its natural end.