When preparing our own advance medical directives, or when assisting others to do so, it is critically important for us to know precisely where ordinary means of treatment end and extraordinary means begin. Pro‑euthanasia groups have made a lot of progress by lodging in the public mind the specter of [...]
As we get older and begin to consider our own advance medical directives, we should also think about the question of pain and how we intend to deal with it. Those who diligently practice their Catholic faith commonly ask three questions regarding the ethics of pain management drugs near the [...]
I try very hard not to let my emotions get the best of me, but there are those rare occasions when my ire is raised, and I cannot contain my outrage. Such a moment occurred a few days ago when a colleague in Oceania shared a story that involved a [...]
The Hippocratic Oath...is an honorable historical document, which, however, does not altogether fit present times. If it is to be applied today, the wording has to be changed very extensively, and in these reformulations a series of new oaths have been drawn up which have only a vague relationship to [...]
You are a member of the first generation of doctors in the history of medicine to turn their backs on the oath of Hippocrates and kill millions of old useless people, unborn children, born malformed children, for the good of mankind ― and to do so without a single murmur [...]
"Evil committed for a good cause remains evil." "Even when it succeeds?" "Above all when it succeeds." ~Victor Hugo, History of a Crime (1877)1 Introduction An advance medical directive (AMD) is a legal document that allows a person to specify the medical treatment he wants and does not want in [...]
Hemlock A judicial determination should be made when it is necessary to hasten the death of an individual, whether it be a demented parent, a suffering, severely disabled spouse or a child. ~ Former Hemlock Society Executive Director Faye Girsh.1 British journalist Derek Humphry had a bit [...]
Once any human being becomes worthless or expendable, all are reduced from an absolute to a relative value and no two human beings would be of equal worth, thus demolishing the very foundation of moral order....By devaluing life ― the life of the unborn, the elderly, the comatose patient, the [...]
In this you rejoice, though now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ― [...]
The moral test of government is how it treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the aged; and those in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped. ― Senator Hubert Humphrey.[1] Euthanasia: Here We [...]
