Pope declares feeding tubes a 'moral obligation'

USA TODAY ^ | 4/01/04 | Cathy Lynn Grossman

[kattracks]

Pope John Paul II has stunned Catholic health care providers, ethicists and theologians by announcing emphatically that it is "morally obligatory" to continue artificial feeding and hydration for people in a persistent vegetative state, even if they remain so for years. His comments could require revision in directives on end-of-life care at one in 10 U.S. hospitals. And they may prompt confusion over the validity of advance directives people have drawn up that say they do not want "extraordinary" treatments to prolong their life under specified circumstances.

[Republic]

Oh my gosh----that would be WONDERFUL!

[cyn]

Hi! thanks for the ping -- "stunned", lol. What's stunning to me is their transparency in putting $$$ before decency and basic civil treatment of those in their care.

[Republic]

And how we wish each and every Florida resident could follow and understand just what hell Greer and his fellow judges have leveled at Terri and her real family. My gosh...the judicial country club system would be turned upside down!

[LizardQueen]

And they may prompt confusion over the validity of advance directives people have drawn up that say they do not want "extraordinary" treatments to prolong their life under specified circumstances.

This is worrisome. Vague advanced directives may be overturned but specific ones should NOT be.
In my opinion, no one, and I mean NO ONE, has the right to keep me alive past the point at which I want it done, as long as I've clearly specified my wishes in writing ahead of time. If it's against Gods wishes that I opt out of this earth, then I'll find out when I'm dead. It's between Him and me, not anyone else.

LQ

[cyn]

well, I'm not holding my breath for their support, as if they just needed the pope to tell them what to do. Their voices have been sadly lacking throughout this whole ordeal, even when the Schindlers have asked in times of greatest need, with only a few notable exceptions. But yeah, it would be nice . . . esp. as we pray for answers for Terri. {{{Take care!}}}

[cyn]

I don't follow your reasoning here . . .

[kms61]

I guess this means if I get deathly ill, I'll have to shop around for a non-Catholic health care provider.

[cpforlife.org]

Pope declares feeding tubes a 'moral obligation'

Terri PING….
Please let me know if you want on or off my Pro-Life Ping List.

[iowamomforfreedom]

I guess this means if I get deathly ill, I'll have to shop around for a non-Catholic health care provider.

Only if it's your wish to be starved and dehydrated to death.

[pollywog]

Thanks for this post. I am so glad that the Pope is taking a stand on this issue. Now to get the Catholic and Protestant churches in Florida and across America to rise up and take a stand!!!!!

[old and tired]

I have a question. Is it wrong not to insert a feeding tube in the first place? I guess I'm wondering if someone is at death's door and no longer feels like eating, isn't it enough to let them die comfortably, doing everything we can to make sure they are hydrated, without sticking a tube in them?

I have long believed it was Catholic doctrine that removing a feeding tube was cruel and if that was "stunning" to ethicists at Catholic Hospitals then surely those ethicists interviewed are Jesuits or some other dissenting order. But it would be surprising to me if as Catholics we are now obligated to ask for feeding tubes.

[FR_addict]

"I have a question. Is it wrong not to insert a feeding tube in the first place? I guess I'm wondering if someone is at death's door and no longer feels like eating, isn't it enough to let them die comfortably, doing everything we can to make sure they are hydrated, without sticking a tube in them?"

I don't think the Pope was talking about a case like you propose. He specifically mentioned PVS and comas. These people are not at death's door. For instance, Terri has been brain-damaged for 14 years. The Pope is talking about cases like Terri's. She could probably feed herself or could eat if someone fed her if they would give her physical therapy. After all she swallows her own saliva and doesn't drool.

This story was out about a week ago and was posted here, but it sure is nice to see USAToday do an article on it.

I think this story is going to have a lot of effect on Terri's case.

[Aquinasfan]

But it would be surprising to me if as Catholics we are now obligated to ask for feeding tubes.

As far as I can tell we are. If I was in that situation, I'd want a feeding tube.

[Canadian Outrage]

You certainly will find out when your dead!!!

[Future Useless Eater]

"I think we all would have withdrawn a feeding tube in her case — until this," says Laurence O'Connell, director of Park Ridge Center for Health, Faith and Ethics in Chicago. The pope's stance is "a stunner, to say the least."

A.Mod: Couldn't an article in today's USA TODAY that our nation's leading bio-ethicists regard as A STUNNER, be considered FRONT PAGE NEWS?

---

I think this would indeed be good news for Terri, who is a DEVOUT Catholic. So even if Michael Schiavo's 1999 recollection is correct that Terri once said she preferred death over an inconspicuous feeding tube under her clothing, Terri would now honor the instructions of the Pope, and order her suicide cancelled.

The biggest problem now however, is that her adulterous husband [he asked Jodi Centonze to marry him in 1996 and she said YES] is currently in the process of killing Terri by other means, and cutting off her parents and other outsiders from witnessing the event. Terri has probably no more than 10-20 days left on this earth, IMHO.

[Dad was my hero]

I guess I was stunned that they were stunned. I thought it was obvious from the outset. I would have been stunned had his position been otherwise.

[Future Useless Eater]

since 1990, when the Supreme Court ruled that feeding tubes are medical treatments "never intended to keep someone alive forever in an unconscious state"

Hey Supreme Court: Does this look like "someone being kept alive forever in an unconscious state"?
Or for that matter, does this look like a permanent vegetative state?.
From "Terri Big Eyes" video available at www.terrisfight.org

Terri starts out apparently asleep. A doctor wakes her to start his tests.

Doctor: Terri. Open your eyes up...

Terri: (Startled at hearing her name. She starts moving her mouth and fluttering her eyes, like a person who is just waking up)

Doctor: Open your eyes, Terri open your eyes

Terri: (slowly at first, Terri struggles to open her eyes, then turns toward the doctor, and opens her eyes a normal amount)

Doctor: There you go, good.

Terri: (then, either to show off(?) or wanting to perform well, she leans further forward toward the doctor, looks straight at him and opens her eyes as WIDE AS SHE CAN. Note the WRINKLES ACROSS HER FOREHEAD caused by her also RAISING HER EYEBROWS as high as possible )

Doctor: [now obviously impressed] GOOD!! GOOD JOB! GOOD JOB YOUNG LADY! Good Job.

[Ohioan from Florida]

Hey, cyn! I can't speak for Tax Relief, but the news from the Pope should be considered compelling evidence that could change how Greer ruled in her case, as local priests gave testimony that it was not against Catholic doctrine to oppose the withdrawal of feeding tubes when terminal. Herein is the distinction, that someone in PVS is not terminal unless the feeding tube is removed, as in euthanasia by omission.

I'm a little surprised to see so many who do not understand the distinction between PVS and being terminal, comas, and such. They are not equal conditions. Don't be misled by the media mumbo-jumbo any further!

To that same point, all feeding tubes are not created equal, and the kind that Terri has is surgically implanted, not inserted and removed for each feeding as in the other type of feeding tube that goes through the esophagus. I believe the Pope is referring specifically to Terri's situation, of which she is but one person enduring this. There are many other Terri's out there.

[TaxRelief]

but the news from the Pope should be considered compelling evidence that could change how Greer ruled in her case, as local priests gave testimony that it was not against Catholic doctrine to oppose the withdrawal of feeding tubes when terminal.

Thank you Ohioan, well stated and perfectly summarized.

[cyn]

"I hate to say it, but it's time for the Schindlers to get another lawyer." -- I don't understand this.

I've noticed that as well, that people do not understand the difference between a terminal illness such as cancer, in which as the body declines, so often does the appetite, as I've observed at close hand, and 'pvs'/brain injury in an otherwise healthy person.