January 18, 2006 The NCBC wishes to express its profound disappointment with the Court’s decision to allow physicians in Oregon to abuse their healing art and construe the deliberate administration of a lethal dose of a drug as a “legitimate medical purpose.” In the words of Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent, “if the term ‘legitimate medical purpose’ has any meaning, it surely excludes the prescription of drugs to produce death.” We regret that those entrusted with the regulation of controlled substances are being denied the opportunity to carry out a very important exercise of their authority and oversight in a critical medical setting. This restriction will diminish the quality of health care that is ultimately made available to suffering patients by promoting the abuse of controlled substances instead of helping dying patients to live according to their human dignity. Physician-assisted suicide is not an act that directly ends the suffering of a patient. Rather, this act deliberately takes the life of a person who receives his or her life as a gift from God. Physician-assisted suicide represents a fundamental violation of this gift and of human dignity. The work of The National Catholic Bioethics Center is done for the good of the Church and for the protection of the most weak and vulnerable among us. Please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Center today. We rely on the generosity of friends and benefactors to continue our work of defending the dignity of the human person in health care and the life sciences. Click to donate now. |
