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Church Policies: Euthanasia and Prolonging Life
This is part of a series of posts containing information on Church policies on medical and scientific issues.
Euthanasia:
"A person who participates in euthanasia--deliberately putting to death a person suffering from incurable conditions or diseases--violates the commandments of God."
Prolonging Life:
"When severe illness strikes, Church members should exercise faith in the Lord and seek competent medical assistance. However, when dying becomes inevitable, it should be looked upon as a blessing and a purposeful part of eternal existence. Members should not feel obligated to extend mortal life by means that are unreasonable."
(CHI 11-5 and 11-6, 1989, as quoted in "Policies, Practices, and Procedures" in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism.)
2 comments:
These statements seem contradictory, unless a distinction is made between different types of euthanasia. In the first statement it seems that it is referring to active euthanasia (i.e. Dr. Kavorkian, etc.) while the second statement allows for passive euthanasia (i.e. stop giving medicine, come off life support, etc.) The Handbook committee should probably clarify what they mean euthanasia.
I think it is important to remember that euthanasia refers to any intentional killing - whether active or by omission. It's all about intentions and the definition of life. Stopping a treatment when there are realistic probabilities of regaining a functional life would still be considered euthanasia. I don't intend to philosophize on when life is worth prolonging or when you can justify stopping life support. I personally feel like it is a case by case situation, but am open to any other opinions.
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