THE
P RTAL
August 2011
Page 10
“Do not be afraid!”
by Dr Clare D Walker
President Catholic Medical Association (UK)
“Do not be afraid!” The exhortation used so many times by the late Pope John Paul II could not be more
apt today in Britain in 2011. Christian healthcare professionals working in the NHS increasingly speak of a
pervasive atmosphere of fear and uneasiness should they or colleagues holding various belief systems dare to
question uncritical worship at the altar of secularism as expressed in clinical care.
Fear, courage, and heartbreak
In recent months, many readers will
have experienced fear and courage,
heartbreak following the loss of deep
relationships in no way assuaged by
the beginnings of new friendships and
those moments of panic on trying to
find a foothold - whether spiritual or
financial - in new territories.
It is tempting to ask God for peace, for
certainty and for one challenge at a time! After
the ‘highs’ of the honeymoon period dissipate,
family and professional life may demand responses
to difficult situations for which euthanasia is
increasingly promoted in the public sphere as the
only answer.
There is much confusion in the media about
terminology surrounding assisted suicide and various
types of euthanasia.
terminology of euthanasia
Assisted suicide may include providing
encouragement, technical advice or the objects and
medicines necessary to allow another person to end
their own lives effectively.
Voluntary euthanasia must first include the freely
expressed wish of a competent person to have their
life ended by another. For such freedom to exist, in
some countries where euthanasia is legally tolerated,
the person must be fully informed about possible
alternatives to premature death as an end to current
or imminent physical, spiritual or psychological
suffering.
Non-voluntary euthanasia involves others ending
the lives of individuals or specific groups of people
who are non-competent, for example; incapable of
asking for death.
Involuntary euthanasia is defined as the deliberate
ending of the life of an competent individual who
has either made known their opposition to
this in the past or has simply not been
consulted.
Active euthanasia requires a specific
act designed to end the life of another.
Passive euthanasia still ensures the
ending of another person’s life but does
so by omitting a action, predicting that
such an omission would be the means which
would kill them and deliberately choosing such
an omission to result in death.
An Advance directive may involve the advance
refusal of certain types of treatment for conditions
which the individual usually does not suffer from at
the time of writing the advance directive.
Since many people change their minds regarding
what would make their lives unbearable in years to
come, the provision of an advance directive may place
others in a very difficult position.
There may be a sharp difference between what a
person told friends or family were their priorities and
wishes in the event of becoming incompetent and
the attitudes documented by a much younger, more
robust individual.
Whilst many advance directives, if published for
public use by pro-euthanasia organisations, are
designed to promote euthanasia, the attitude of those
who have signed such a legally binding document is
not always pro-euthanasia.
Their motivation may be wanting only medical
treatment which is appropriate for the individual
at the end of their lives. Looking up the small print
on any advance directive will inform readers about
the motivation of the group going to such trouble to
ensure we all sign one. In some cases, the wording is
such that individuals are signing up to non-voluntary
euthanasia in advance.