Andrew Sullivan -
andrewsullivan.com
FOR THE RECORD: Here also is the full statement of the current Pope on feeding tubes as "ordinary" treatment, mandated for all patients. It's a statement in stark contrast to the Church's previous, more nuanced teachings. But with this Pope, that's hardly unusual. Still even this Pope concedes that "[t]he person in a vegetative state, in fact, shows no evident sign of self-awareness or of awareness of the environment, and seems unable to interact with others or to react to specific stimuli." He also concedes that "the recovery of [vegetative] patients, statistically speaking, is ever more difficult as the condition of vegetative state is prolonged in time." The money quote, however, is the following:
I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory, insofar as and until it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient and alleviation of his suffering.
Could we have a vegetative Pope suspended indefinitely in this state? Yes, we could. Maybe we will. |
