Posted on 06/17/2011 8:12:28 AM PDT by markomalley
On June 16 the U.S. bishops approved a document on assisted suicide, which will become their first collective word on the matter. The statement, entitled “To Live Each Day with Dignity,” refutes the idea that assisted suicide is a compassionate form of medical treatment.
“Getting rid of yourself is a false choice,” said Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, chairman of the bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in a press conference following debate on the document at the bishops' spring meeting in Bellevue, Wash.
“The Church needs to respond in a timely and visible way to this renewed challenge, which will surely be pursued in a number of states in the years to come,” the pro-life chairman said.
The document required 180 positive votes from the bishops and received 191.
In “To Live Each Day with Dignity,” the bishops define true compassion as “meeting patients' needs and … a commitment to their equal worth.” This mentality contrasts sharply with physician-assisted suicide's elimination of the patient, as a means of ending suffering.
The bishops also state that the mindset of assisted suicide, if allowed into society, must “inevitably” target people with chronic illness and disabilities “whose suffering is considered serious enough for assisted death.”
At the press conference, Cardinal DiNardo also warned that the medical field risks losing its basic identity if it moves away from preserving life.
Rather than treating life itself as an illness, the bishops argue, physicians must provide “life-affirming palliative care” in keeping with “the principle of equal and inherent human rights and the ethical principles of the medical profession.”
Oregon was the first U.S. state to legalize assisted suicide in 1994. A popular referendum legalized the practice in Washington in 2008, and Montana's Supreme Court declared it legal in 2010.
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Ping!
I’m sure procedure requires a vote on every statement.
191 out of 200 in the US Bishops, to me, is a very good sign. They are pretty leftie, aren’t they? Compared to Rome. I love the wording — “Getting rid of yourself.’ Strikes me as such a funny way to say that.
what also is upsetting is that it took this long, and a big conference to come out in what should be an automatic and immedicate response to assisted suicide.....
The Catholic position on suicide has been perfectly clear for 2000 years. It is extremely serious, since it is a mortal sin and usually offers no chance to repent, confess, and be absolved.
I don’t know if 9 bishops abstained, or maybe happened to go out for lunch during the vote. But you would think they’d give someone a proxy if they did.
“Assisted suicide,” of course, is one of those bogus terms. It’s actually murder if one person deliberately kills another. But it is also suicide if the person who is killed asks for it to be done. Still, the name suggests, once again, that no one really wants to talk honestly about what they are doing.
Leftist duckspeak.
Without hearing from those who didn't vote for it, there's no way to know. Maybe some of the bishops weren't present. Maybe someone believed the text wasn't strong enough.
One would hope the names of the voters would be listed at the USCCB’s website, along with the full text of the document. If there were Bishops present who didn’t support it, you could pretty much guess, from the names and the text, whether they are pro-euthanasia or whether they thought the document was weak.
Here's a little more info - I'm not finding a text, yet. It looks like all but one of the bishops present voted for the document. If others were absent, it seems proxy votes were not taken.
The document looks pretty good to me:
http://www.usccb.org/toliveeachday/bishops-statement-physician-assisted-suicide.pdf
However, it’s possible that someone believed it should more strongly emphasize the sin committed by all who participate in euthanasia.
I just skimmed it and did a word search, the word sin never appeared.
I suspect that you are correct, the document lays out the reasons against euthanasia, but never addresses that those who participate are committing mortal sin.
If we see the name of the dissident, we’ll know. Good catch with the word search!
The traditional position is that unless the person who commits suicide is of unsound mind and not fully responsible for his decision, or unless death takes a while, giving the person time to repent, then it is a mortal sin with no chance to confess and repent.
In other words, suicide is a one-way ticket to Hell. That is why, traditionally, suicides were not allowed to be buried in consecrated ground. God, of course, can do whatever He wishes, and presumably can offer a suicide a last-second chance to repent. But it would be extremely foolish to rely on that possibility.
I do think it is the duty of the Bishops to point that out, in the hope of dissuading Catholics from committing suicide or agreeing to euthanasia. After all, the most important duty of the Bishops is to save souls.
bump!
“Catholic Bishops Issue Statement on Suicide”
Good! When do they plan to do it?
Excellent points.
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