COMA?
VEGETATIVE STATE?
DEMENTIA?
DISABILITY?
 

In Certain Circumstances CATHOLICS MAY LICITLY REFUSE TREATMENT, even when it is life-saving:
 

- It is always permissible to make do with the normal means that medicine can offer.

- Semper licet satis habere communia remedia, quae ars medica suppeditare potest.

Therefore ONE CANNOT IMPOSE ON ANYONE the obligation to have recourse to a technique which is already in use but which

Quapropter nemini obligatio imponenda est genus curationis adhibendi quod, etsi in usu iam est, 

[1] carries a risk or

[2] is burdensome. 

adhuc tamen non caret periculo

 vel nimis est onerosum. 

Such a refusal is not the equivalent of suicide; on the contrary, it should be considered as

Quae remedii recusatio comparanda non est cum suicidio verius habenda est vel 

[1] an acceptance of the human condition, or 

simplex acceptatio condicionis humanae; 

[2] a wish to avoid the application of a medical procedure disproportionate to the results that can be expected, or 

vel cura vitandi laboriosum rnedicae artis apparatum cui tamen par sperandorum effectuum utilitas non respondet;

[3] a desire not to impose excessive expense on the family or the community.

vel denique voluntas onus nimis grave familiaee aut communitati non imponendi.

- WHEN INEVITABLE DEATH is IMMINENT in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted. In such circumstances the doctor has no reason to reproach himself with failing to help the person in danger.

- Imminente morte, quae remediis adhibitis nullo modes impediri potest, licet ex conscientia consilium inire curationibus renuntiandi, quae nonnisi precariam et doloris plenam. vitae dilationem afferre valent, haud intermissis tamen ordinariis curis, quae in similibus casibus aegroto debentur. Tune^, causa non est cur medicus animi angore afficiatur, quasi alicui, qui in periculo versaretur, auxilium negaverit.

Certainly there is a moral obligation to care for oneself and to allow oneself to be cared for, but this duty must take account of concrete circumstances.

It needs to be determined whether the means of treatment available are objectively proportionate to the prospects for improvement.

in re namque nata necesse est diiudicare conveniantne therapeutica instrumenta ad manus aliquando melioris condicionis ipsis exspectationibus.

To forego extraordinary or disproportionate means is not the equivalent of suicide or euthanasia;

Haud vero tantum valet consiliorum extraordinariorum vel nimiorum reiectio quam voluntaria mors vel euthanasia;

it rather expresses acceptance of the human condition in the face of death

consensum potius illa declarat cum humano statu ante mortem

BUT...  THE DISABLED MUST ALWAYS RECEIVE  COMPASSIONATE TREATMENT
 

Porro pertemptatur aequabilitas nonnumquam iam incerta vitae privatae ac familiaris, ut hinc aegrotus, etsi efficacioribus usque subsidiis providentiae medicae et socialis sustentatus, periculo obiciatur ne opprimi sese sua fragilitate sentiat;

illinc vero in iis qui adfectu quodam inter se iunguntur valere possit pietatis sensus qui facile intellegitur quamvis perperam comprehendatur.

All this is aggravated by a cultural climate which fails to perceive any meaning or value in suffering, but rather considers suffering the epitome of evil, to be eliminated at all costs. This is especially the case in the absence of a religious outlook which could help to provide a positive understanding of the mystery of suffering.

 Quodam praeterea morum habitu haec omnia exacerbantur, qui nullam in dolore significationem aut virtutem detegit, quin immo ut ma­lum praecipuum censet quovis pretio propulsandum; quod turn rnaxime accidit cum religiosa desideratur rerum aestimatio qua iuvetur quis ut in bonam partem doloris arcanum interpretetur.

On a more general level, there exists in contemporary culture a certain Promethean attitude which leads people to think that they can control life and death by taking the decisions about them into their own hands.

Attamen in toto cultus humani prospectu aliquid certe efficit ratio quaedam Promethei animi super homine qui sibi persuadet posse sic sese vita morteque potiri, cum de illis decernat,

What really happens in this case is that the individual is overcome and crushed by a death deprived of any prospect of meaning or hope.

dum revera devincitur ac deprimitur interitu irreparabiliter clauso ante omnem sentiendi exspectationem omnemque spem.

We see a tragic expression of all this in the spread of euthanasia - disguised and surreptitious, or practised openly and even legally.

Calamitosam horum sensuum omnium testificationem in late prolata deprehendimus euthanasia, tecta quidem et prorepente aut quae palam peragitur vel lure etiam ipso permittitur.

As well as for reasons of a misguided pity at the sight of the patient’s suffering, euthanasia is sometimes justified by the utilitarian motive of avoiding costs which bring no return and which weigh heavily on society.

Haec vero, praeter quam ex adserta quadam misericordia de dolore alicuius patientis hominis, defenditur interdum ex certae utilitatis aestimatione, ob quam nempe nimia pro societate impendia infructuosa declinari debeant.

Thus it is proposed to eliminate:

Itaque suadetur ut

[1] malformed babies,

nati deformes,

[2] the severely handicapped,

graviter praepediti

[3] the disabled,

et invalidi,

[4] the elderly, especially when they are not self-sufficient,

senes potissimum sibi providere non valentes,

[5] and the terminally ill.

 necnon insanabiliter aegrotantes tollantur.

Nor can we remain silent in the face of other more furtive, but no less serious and real, forms of euthanasia. These could occur for example when, in order to increase the availability of organs for transplants, organs are removed without respecting objective and adequate criteria which verify the death of the donor.

Neque silere hoc loco nos par est aliis de tectioribus, nihilo tarnen minus veris et gravibus, euthanasiae modis. Accidere illi possunt cum, verbi gratia, ad organorum eopiam transplantandorum augendam, ipsa auferuntur organa minime quidem normis obiectivis congruisque servatis de certa donatoris morte.