As you may know, presently in the United States there are three states that allow physician assisted suicide. These are: Oregon, Washington and Montana.
Today, the bishops of the United States approved a statement on this encroaching evil in our country. Its title is To Live Each Day with Dignity: A Statement on Physician-Assisted Suicide.
I believe it to be a well-crafted document and worth your time to read and study. Click on the highlighted link above. I have yet to read it in its entirety, but I want to share a few paragraphs.
As Christians we go even further: Life is our first gift from an infinitely loving Creator. It is the most fundamental element of our God-given human dignity. Moreover, by assuming and sharing our human nature, the Son of God has more fully revealed and enhanced the sacred character of each human life.
Therefore one cannot uphold human freedom and dignity by devaluing human life. A choice to take one’s life is a supreme contradiction of freedom, a choice the eliminates all choices. And a society that devalues some people’s lives, by hastening and facilitating their deaths, will ultimately lose respect for their other rights and freedoms.
Our society should embrace what Pope John Paul II called “the way of love and true mercy” – a readiness to surround patients with love, support, and companionship, providing the assistance need to ease their physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering. This approach must be anchored in unconditional respect for their dignity, beginning with respect for the inherent value of their lives……
Effective palliative care also allows patients to devote their attention to the unfinished business of their lives, to arrive at a sense of peace with God, with loved ones, and with themselves. No one should dismiss this time as useless or meaningless. Learning how to face this last stage of our earthly lives is one of the most important and meaningful things each of us will do, and caregivers who help people through this process are also doing enormously important work. As Christians we believe that even suffering itself need not be meaningless — for as Pope John Paul II showed during his final illness, suffering accepted in love can bring us closer to the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice for the salvation of others.
Attached to the statement are various fact sheets, educational articles, an archive on Assisted Suicide, and prayers during serious illness.
Take the time tonight to read it.
