Some Catholic patients are carrying cards asking food and nutrition to continue even if they are brain dead:
The Observer in the UK reported Sunday that Catholics in the UK have taken to carrying special ID cards informing doctors that they do not wish to be deprived of food and fluids in the case of admission to hospital.In a growing worldwide trend, doctors in the UK consider what used to be routine care–administration of nutrition and hydration, by artificial means if necessary–to be “treatment” which can be refused or denied.
(via Gold-Plated Witch on Wheels)
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{ 4 comments }
I have no problem if people want to take extreme measures and incur extreme costs to prolong their own lives (or the lives of their bodies if they’re braindead), so long as they’re the ones paying for it. Will the Catholic Church be starting a fund to cover these medical expenses?
There is a line beyond which it is poor public policy to take extreme and costly measures to prolong or potentially save a life, and if people want to use a line of their own making, that’s fine so long as the public isn’t paying for it.
David, you were reading my mind!
same thing with abortion.
I don’t see anything about being brain dead in the article. It just says “admitted to hospital.”
“UK doctors were warned in November that they may face prison sentences if they refuse to withdraw food and fluids from patients who have previously indicated they do not want medical treatment.”
The article doesn’t say anything about being brain dead; it does, however, refer to a man with a progressive neurological disorder who wants to be fed and hydrated when he can’t eat and drink any more — but who can’t find anyone who can reassure him that he’ll be looked after when he is no longer able to speak for himself.
Kevin, you’ve completely lost me on this one.
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