471. What medical procedures are permitted when death is considered imminent?
(Comp 471) When death is considered imminent the ordinary care owed to a sick
person cannot be legitimately interrupted. However, it is legitimate to use
pain-killers which do not aim at in death and to refuse “over-zealous
treatment”, that is the utilization of disproportionate medical procedures
without reasonable hope of a positive outcome.
“In brief”
(CCC 2318) "In [God's] hand
is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job
12:10). (CCC 2319) Every human life, from the
moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been
willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God.
To deepen and
explain
(CCC 2278) Discontinuing medical procedures that are
burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected
outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of "over-zealous"
treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one's inability to impede it
is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is
competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the
patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be
respected.
Reflection
(CCC 2279) Even if death is thought imminent, the ordinary
care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted. The use of
painkillers to alleviate the sufferings of the dying, even at the risk of
shortening their days, can be morally in conformity with human dignity if death
is not willed as either an end or a means, but only foreseen and tolerated as
inevitable. Palliative care is a special form of disinterested charity. As such
it should be encouraged. (CCC 2280) Everyone is responsible for his life before
God who has given it to him. It is God who remains the sovereign Master of
life. We are obliged to accept life gratefully and preserve it for his honor
and the salvation of our souls. We are stewards, not owners, of the life God
has entrusted to us. It is not ours to dispose of.
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