Questions of Life & Death

Rev. Robert Brucciani

Ordinary means

What are ordinary means of medical treatment?

Ordinary means of medical treatment are those which do not constitute a disproportionate burden upon the patient or the community. They necessarily presuppose normal care, such as nutrition, hydration and air, and include easily performed medical procedures (N.B. what are considered “easily performed medical procedures” will change with time and place). For a more complete answer see: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Commentary.

Persistent vegetative state

Is it permitted to withdraw nutrition and hydration from a patient in a “persistent vegetative state” or severely disabled or in chronic pain?

It is not permitted to withdraw nutrition and hydration from a patient in a “persistent vegetative state” or severely disabled or in chronic pain if the privation will cause the death of the patient. For a more complete answer see: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Responses To Certain Questions of the United States Conference Of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition And Hydration, 11 July 2005.

Is it permitted to switch off the life-support machine of a patient in a “persistent vegetative state”?

It is permitted to switch off the life support machine of a patient in a “persistent vegetative state” if the patient is unlikely to recover and if the maintenance of life support is considered overly burdensome to the family or community. For a more complete answer see: Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith, Commentary.

When death is imminent

Is it permitted to withhold forms of treatment to prolong the life of a patient whose death is imminent?

It is permitted to withhold forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, if the normal care due to the sick person (nutrition, hydration, turning, washing etc.) is not interrupted and if the withholding of treatment does not prevent a patient securing the greatest good, which is heaven, by the fruitful reception of the sacraments. For a more complete answer see: Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith, Declaration On Euthanasia, 5 May 1980.  

Is the use of narcotics permitted for the dying or patients at risk of death even if pain relief is probably accompanied by a shortening of life?

The use of narcotics is permitted for the dying or patients at risk of death even if pain relief is probably accompanied by a shortening of life if there is no direct causal link between narcosis and shortening of life, whether by will (i.e. in intention) or by nature (i.e. if the suppression of pain could only be achieved by shortening life) and if there is a proportion between the pain relief procured and the unwilled effect of a shortening of life and if the narcotics do not prevent a patient securing the greatest good, which is heaven, by the fruitful reception of the sacraments. For a more complete answer see: Pope Pius XII, Address to an International Congress of Anesthesiologists. 

Organ donation

Is it permitted to donate an organ?

It is permitted to donate an organ if the donation does not impair the functional integrity of the donor (i.e. if it doesn't kill or disable the donor) and if there is a proportion between the good procured and the harm done to the donor. For a more complete answer see: William E May, The Morality of Organ Transplants.

Is it permitted to give permission for one's vital organs (e.g. heart, lungs, liver, brain) to be harvested after death?

In principle, it is permitted to give permission for one's vital organs to be harvested after death. In practice, however, the following difficulties arise:

a) the determination of death is often uncertain;

b) the utility of vital organs from a dead donor is doubtful;

c) the practice of removing vital organs from a living patient is probably widespread. It would seem, therefore, that given the probability of one's wishes not being respected, one should not give permission for one's vital organs to be donated after death.

For a more complete answer see: SSPX FAQs, Brain Death & Organ Harvesting.

Underlying Principles

Thou shalt not kill

No medical procedure that will directly or intentionally kill a patient is permitted.

Principle of Double Effect (Voluntarium in causa)

An action having two effects, one good, the other bad, is morally permissible provided that the action is:

a) not morally wrong for other reasons;

b) that the bad effect is not intended;

c) that the bad effect is not the means to the good effect; 

d) that there is a "proportionate reason" for tolerating or accepting the bad effect.