Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Bogota (Agenzia Fides) – The Colombian Bishops’ Conference has issued a statement signed by the President of the Conference, Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Barranquilla, in relation to the draft bill 44 of 2008, which “allows for the practice of euthanasia, assisted suicide, and palliative therapy.”
Firstly, they mention that “the right to life is a fundamental and universal right” and is referred to in Colombia’s Constitution (art. 11). Therefore, “man has no right in taking his own life or the life of others.” Furthermore, the dignity of the human person does not depend on circumstances, that is to say “the dignity is not reduced by illness, suffering, deformities, or dementia. Moreover, as experience shows, what is a biological or psychological adversity can later ennoble a person.”
Given that “natural death is the desirable end for every human life,” it is completely legitimate “to fight against pain or voluntarily deny the reception of extreme treatment that is useless, disproportionate, and extremely costly, and that only serve to prolong a precarious and painful existence.” However, it is not licit to “interrupt normal therapy that a patient should receive in similar cases.”
Thus, the Church “basing itself upon the principles of right reason and enlightened by the Gospel, rejects euthanasia when it implies the decision to end a life that seems unbearable for reasons of illness or old age, before its time or the act of deliberately ending the life of a terminally ill patient so as to end their suffering.” “Creating legal norms allowing for the suppression of innocent human lives is contrary to the code of ethics and is socially misleading. Every law that authorizes this will be subject to unforeseen abuses.”
The Bishops conclude their statement by reminding all Catholics that “regardless of whether or not Congress passes this law or not, not all that is legal is morally licit.”
Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, Archbishop of Bogota, also issued a recent statement saying that “Euthanasia is a crime and all who participate in it commit an act of homicide.” “The intentional termination of the life of another person, albeit a qualified third-party, is always murder, as neither the medical personnel nor family members are authorized in deciding to make another person die,” the Cardinal said.
The Archbishop of Bogota also explained that the right to life should be protected “with greater courage, especially when it refers to the most vulnerable such as people in a vegetative state, disabled, or newborn and unborn babies who may suffer deformities.”
The first Senate hearing recently began with a series of four debates on the draft bill on the legalization of euthanasia. In the first debate, the bill was passed in an 11-3 vote. According to the law, euthanasia would only be permitted upon the request of the patient. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 23/9/2008)
