Life Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State
“The sick person in a vegetative state, awaiting recovery or a natural end, still has the right to basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth, etc.), and to the prevention of complications related to his confinement to bed. He also has the right to appropriate rehabilitative care and to be monitored for clinical signs of eventual recovery.
“The sick person in a vegetative state, awaiting recovery or a natural end, still has the right to basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth, etc.), and to the prevention of complications related to his confinement to bed. He also has the right to appropriate rehabilitative care and to be monitored for clinical signs of eventual recovery.
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.” -Pope John Paul II
- Address of John Paul II to the Participants in the International Congress on Life-Sustaining Treatments and the Vegetative State, 3/20/04
- Responses to Certain Questions Concerning Artifical Nutrition and Hydration, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 8/1/07 (See additional commentary here)
- USCCB Q & A on Nutrition and Hydration for Patients in a “Vegetative State”, 9/2007
- The Revision of Directive 58 of Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, Edward J. Furton, 12/16/09
Please Note: None of the information, commentaries or links provided here constitute a legal opinion or advice. Please consult an attorney for assistance with any legal questions or legal documents concerning end of life issues.