Catholic Teaching on
Assisted Suicide
Because all life is sacred, Catholic teaching holds that assisted suicide can never be permitted. Euthanasia and assisted suicide stand in contradiction to the Catholic understanding that all life bears God's image and has inherent dignity.
Allowing to Die vs. Killing
Killing is an intentional act that causes death, while allowing to die is withholding or withdrawing futile or burdensome treatments.
Q. What's the difference between withholding treatment and assisted suicide?
A. Assisted suicide is the intentional taking of life and is never permissible. Withholding “extraordinary means” of medical treatment is morally permissible, allowing nature to take its course and death to occur naturally.
“[I]t is never licit to kill another: even if [one] should wish it, indeed if [one] request it, hang- ing between life and death... nor is it licit even when a sick person is no longer able to live.” St. Augustine
“I am the resurrection and the life; all who believe in me, even if they die, will live” (John. 11:25)
Ordinary and Extraordinary
Treatments that offer reasonable hope of benefit that may be obtained without excessive pain, expense or burden are considered ordinary means.
Treatments that do not offer reasonable hope of benefit and cannot be obtained without excessive pain, expense or burden are considered extraordinary means.
Respecting the sacredness of life, each person decides the benefits and burdens of treatment according to their own physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health at the time of the decision.
When confronted with highly emotional life-and-death decisions, Catholics should gather all the facts, consult with their physician and family, reflect on Catholic teaching, and pray. We are called to a fullness of life which far exceeds the dimensions of our earthly existence “… because it consists in sharing the very life of God.” (Pope John Paul II, Evangelium Vitae)
Making Good Decisions
Medical advances can help save lives. They also can present terminally-ill patients and their loved ones with difficult choices at the end of life.
Q. Does the Church require Catholics to pursue all efforts to preserve life?
A. No. Human life is a gift from God and we have a duty to preserve it. But we enter into eternal life through death, and the Church teaches that treatments or procedures may be refused if they offer little or no benefit and cause undue burden.
Catholic teaching gives patients and their families principles for making decisions about initiating or continuing medical treatments. Scripture and Catholic tradition teach us that death is not an end, but a transition to eternal life with God. “Whoever believes has eternal life” (John. 6:47)
Every living person is created in the image of God. The gift of life is a sacred trust and we are stewards of that trust. Whether we are healthy or sick, rich or poor, able-bodied or disabled… our life bears the sacred image of God and we have a duty to preserve it. We have an obligation to nurture and care for our own life and the lives of others. We must never harm or destroy it.
“Every single person has worth. It doesn't matter what their state in life is, what their disability is, what their intelligence is. By virtue that they are created by God, they have innate dignity.” Karin Dufault, SP, RN, PhD “But normally one is held to use only ordinary means…according to the circumstances of persons, places, times, and culture – that is to say, means that do not involve any grave burden for oneself or another.” (Pope Pius XII)
