October 22, 2003 BOSTON, MA— The National Catholic Bioethics Center has been following closely the Florida case of Terri Schiavo. The United States Catholic Bishops, in a 2001 document entitled Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, had this to say in Directive 58 about the provision of medically assisted nutrition and hydration: “There should be a presumption in favor of providing nutrition and hydration to all patients, including patients who require medically assisted nutrition and hydration, as long as this is of sufficient benefit to outweigh the burdens involved to the patient.” The above directive provides sure guidance to those having to make difficult ethical decisions in this case. Based on the facts that we have at this time from media sources, the NCBC holds that the benefits of providing medically assisted nutrition and hydration would clearly outweigh the burdens in the case of Terri Schiavo. |
