PHYSICIAN-ASSISTED SUICIDE
Freeimages.com / Dima Vishnevetsky
By Father Mark Gantley
Special to the Herald
The Hawaii State Legislature during its 2018 session passed a bill, signed into law by Gov. David Ige, permitting terminally ill patients to commit suicide with the help of physicians, psychologists and pharmacists. The law was promoted by the mainland advocacy organization Compassion and Choices, formerly known as the Hemlock Society, among others. The law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2019.
This new law raises questions on the appropriateness of giving the sacraments to those on track to commit physician-assisted suicide. It also raises questions about whether funeral services may be extended to those who have already taken their life according to the new legal procedure. In order to assist priests, deacons, parish staff, and those who minister to the sick and homebound to handle such situations, Bishop Larry Silva has issued an “Instruction Regarding Sacraments and Funerals in Situations Involving Physician Assisted Suicide.”
The state law, euphemistically called the “Our Care, Our Choice Act,” allows those who are terminally ill to commit suicide with medical assistance, although the patients must decide to do this when their mental faculties are still intact. Consequently, with full knowledge of what they are doing and freedom from undue influence by others, they make a deliberate decision, carefully considered over time. It is also a decision that, if the law is followed as it is written, meets the criteria for a mortal sin.
If a person dies in mortal sin, he or she forfeits eternal life with God. The Instruction’s goal is to dissuade people from making such a choice.
For someone on the firm path to commit assisted suicide who requests confession, Holy Communion, or the anointing of the sick, the Instruction directs that the sacraments be “delayed.” The hope of this delay is that the person will change his or her mind, repent, and receive the love and mercy of God through the sacraments.
The Instruction is written with the implicit belief that we are stewards — not owners — of the life that God has given us. God alone is both the giver and taker of life. Human beings are bound by the commandment, “You shall not kill.”
With regard to funeral services, at that point, there is no possibility of getting a person to change his or her mind, so in most cases, the Instruction directs that funeral services will be granted. The funeral gives a unique opportunity for family and friends to pray for God’s mercy for the person’s soul. However, the Instruction also notes that being given a Catholic funeral is not a guarantee of salvation.
In addition, the Instruction addresses the current secular trend, which has influenced many Catholic funeral services, of seeing the funeral, not as a celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection, but rather as a “celebration of life” of the individual person. The funeral becomes a sort of pseudo-canonization. Such an approach is especially incongruous in situations of physician-assisted suicide.
This Instruction is part of a multi-faceted response from Bishop Silva and the diocese in response to this new state law.
Father Gantley is the judicial vicar of the Diocese of Honolulu.
