Friday, March 9, 2007

St.Elizabeth Advance Directive, Abortifacients and NKRTL

Here is the link to the "Advance Directive" on the St. E's site.

Living Will and Health Care Surrogate Designation

It is a form, you need to check certain lines, it is as simple as that. Food and water CAN be taken away at a Catholic hospital so the patient would die from dehydration and starvation. It is a CHOICE. It is one thing to stop food and water if the organs are shutting down and they are near death and can no longer take nourishment. This is an entirely different matter. This can be done if the patient is terminal or not. Food and water should never be considered medical care. If it is, then my insurance should be covering my trips to Kroger's(I will need to look into that).
Here is the details of this issue and can also be found on the NKRTL website:
"The Diocese of Covington shall fully implement the papal teaching on the administration of food and water as a moral obligation to sustain and comfort those persons who are in a terminal condition. The moral obligation to provide nutrition and hydration is clearly and eloquently expressed in Pope John Paul’s papal address, March 20, 2004." (Gospel of Life/Respect Life Policy Statements, No. 52). This Synod document also states: "The Diocese shall publish a model Durable Power of Attorney Form for use in health care-related situations, in complete accordance with Vatican directives on nutrition and hydration." But the contrary anti-life documents are still being used at St. Elizabeth Hospital, authorizing the withdrawal of food and water.

And on the abortifacient drugs that can be administered at St. Elizabeth, the Bishops of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky (CCK) issued a signed public statement approving the administration of the abortifacient drug (denominated as "emergency contraception") in Catholic hospitals. How is this moral? How is this building up the Church and what she teaches?
You may have noticed this topic strikes a cord with me. Don't call a hospital "Catholic" when you are providing death services masked as "not all patients are Catholic" or whatever the reason may be. There is never a reason to kill the weak or defenseless. I used to be a die-hard feminist in my college years so it took me a long time to get to where I am now. If some of these issues have been settled and are now in line with the teaching of the Magisterium, I would love that information and would be glad to hear it.
From another perspective, I found this article: End-of-life teaching more than 'dilemmas, controversies,' priest says
I think it is much more healthy and christian to look at the human as the image and likeness of God before we turn end-of-life treatment into political spin. Comfort and kindness are simple enough measures to decide what someone needs.

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