“I say no to euthanasia”

The pro-euthanasia front in Belgium opens up to Catholics. A debate was sparked-off by a book written by Corinne Van Oost, titled “Catholic doctor, I practice euthanasia”. The book is similar to a confession in which the Belgian doctor – who dedicated her life alleviating the pain of terminal patients – explains why she gradually started practicing active euthanasia, legalized in 2002 at national level. The doctor thus analyses the personal stories of terminal patients, starting with Albertine, affected by multiple sclerosis, “the first case that led me to address my own principles”. “Euthanasia – Van Oost writes – is always a failure. Its implementation is a difficult task for every doctor. The question is – after all attempts have failed without managing to decrease the pain, what should be done? Should the person be abandoned to suffering? It is not part of my Christian belief”. She goes on: “I had done everything I could to alleviate their suffering, but obviously it wasn’t enough. Who was I to deny their death?” Catherine Dopchie is an oncologist, head of a hospital ward for palliative treatment in Belgium. She’s Catholic. Did you ever ask yourself this same question? “I started working in palliative treatment with doctor Van Oost in the same period. Together and with our interdisciplinary teams we learnt to alleviate physical pain, and became experts in the field. Suffering caused by lack of control over pain, described as the main cause of requests for euthanasia, also involves the physician. The day will come when the suffering person, and the person who assists the patients, will have to address their solitude. At the point, in the deepness of their spirit they will have to find the way to experience that pain, that is unique, just as the patient’s is. I daily address my limits and human suffering, and I am animated by the yearning to be professionally and humanly close to the suffering person. I also have had to fight against the temptation of omnipotence”. And what was your answer? “I remember a woman. She had an advanced stage of breast cancer, each time we met she asked me to cause her death, although we had previously addressed the subject at length and my refusal was clear. I suffered internally through her suffering, I felt impotent and united with her at the same time. My response to that pain was to continue seeing her on a regular basis and faithfully, until her natural death. Did I listen to her completely and respectfully given the fact that I was not open to euthanasia? Did I help her? She said I did, and I believe her. Was it enough? In the humbleness of my limits today I am inclined to say yes and no, because there is always room for improvement. And not enough if the measure requested is to remove suffering through a mortal act at external level. Who was I to cause her death? Who was I to measure the consequences of this act on her family, on my family, on those who suffer and are fragile, on humanity?” Were you ever tempted to help someone die? “To avoid confusion I would rather say to ‘cause the death’ of someone. The temptation of euthanasia does exist. Sometimes it’s intense, violent, and oppressive. But our risk of succumbing is mortal. The role of the Creator that fulfills all the needs of His creation cannot be assumed with impunity without being exposed to a loss in humanity”. What difference is there between a lay, Catholic doctor in his relationship with euthanasia and death? “Death is the enemy of mankind. It is normal to be afraid. We have been created for life. But those who have the fortune of having received faith and of living it, namely those who have met God in their lives, know that death is not the winner. Those people know that neither them nor the patient are ever along. The doctor who is a believer knows that he is not abandoning the patient to emptiness, to nothing, even though in that situation he is impotent. He knows that evil can be transformed in a greater good and that every man is precious for God and that the entire life is sacred. He also knows that if he does something against life it is a serious deed, that there is no true love without truth and that an evil deed never becomes good, even when it’s motivated by good intentions”.