![]() “ Brief Reflections on Euthanasia.” Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) “ Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia: Beyond Terminal Illness.” (PDF) This means patients can legitimately forgo “treatment that doesn’t give a reasonable hope of physical or spiritual benefit, such as resuscitating someone who is at the very end of life,” he says. “The predominant distinction or criteria for legitimate refusal of treatment is whether the treatment in question is considered proportionate or disproportionate,” Di Camillo says. “We don’t give enough attention to people near the end of life because we’re afraid of the end of life and don’t want to come to grips with it,” Di Camillo says.Īt the same time, the church recognizes that a dying person has the moral option to refuse extraordinary treatments that only minimally prolong life. These conditions, he believes, can be addressed with better palliative and psychological care. “That’s the Creator’s decision.”Ĭatholic thinkers like Di Camillo contend that the decision to take one’s own life often comes as a result of issues like poor pain management, despair and loneliness, or the feeling of being a burden on family and others. “We don’t have the authority to take into our hands when life will end,” he says. Di Camillo, staff ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia, Pa. ![]() The church teaches that life should not be prematurely shortened because it is a gift from God, says John A. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. “ End of Life: The Buddhist View.” The Lancet, volume 366, pages 952-955. “The bottom line is that so long as there is no intention to take life, no moral problem arises,” Keown says. ![]() This means, for instance, that while a terminally ill person should not be denied basic care, he or she could refuse treatment that might prove to be futile or unduly burdensome. However, he says, Buddhists also believe that life need not be preserved at all costs and that one does not need to go to extraordinary lengths to preserve a dying person’s life. Buddhists are taught to have a great respect for life, Keown says, even if that life is not being lived in optimal physical and mental health. Buddhism teaches that it is morally wrong to destroy human life, including one’s own, he says, even if the intention is to end suffering. “ Euthanasia, and Extraordinary Support to Sustain Life.” BuddhismĪccording to Damien Keown, emeritus professor of Buddhist ethics at Goldsmiths College, University of London, Buddhists generally oppose assisted suicide and euthanasia. Indeed, he adds, the church “does not frown on” the use of pain medication to alleviate suffering, “even in cases where it might contribute to hastening death.”Īssemblies of God statement. “We leave room for people to artificial means of life support,” Lee says. “God is the giver of life, not us.”Īt the same time, the church allows that life need not be sustained at all costs when there is no hope for recovery. ![]() Lee, chairman of the church’s Commission on Doctrinal Purity. “We simply feel that it is not our prerogative to end life,” says Edgar R. ![]() The denomination teaches that life is a sacred gift and that only God should determine when life ends. The Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the United States, opposes physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia. (For an in-depth look at public opinion on end-of-life issues, see “ Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments.” And for an overview of the political, legal and ethical dimensions of the end-of-life debate, see “ To End Our Days.”) Assemblies of God In the following summaries, religious leaders, scholars and ethicists from 16 major American religious groups explain how their faith traditions’ teachings address physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and other end-of-life questions. ![]()
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