Oppose physician-assisted suicide with ‘renewed vigor,’ says Cardinal Dolan
November 22, 2016
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, called upon Catholics to oppose physician-assisted suicide with “renewed vigor” in light of legislative gains by proponents.
“The act of prescribing a fatal, poisonous dose … undermines the very heart of medicine,” he said in a November 21 statement. “Doctors vow to do no harm, and yet assisted suicide is the ultimate abandonment of their patients.”
The prelate also noted that legalizing physician-assisted suicide “creates two classes of people: those whose suicides are to be prevented at any cost, and those whose suicides are deemed a positive good.”
“What seriously ill – and often depressed – patients need is authentic support, including doctors fully committed to their welfare and pain management as they enter their final days,” he added. “Patients need our assurance that they are not a burden – that it is a privilege to care for them as we ourselves hope to be cared for one day.”
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Posted by: brenda22890 -
Nov. 23, 2016 9:52 AM ET USA
As Cardinal Archbishop Dolan is my Bishop, I'm heartened by his remarks. It's a little late for us to begin fighting against the slippery slope of evil that anti-life movements are, but better late than never
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Posted by: nix898049 -
Nov. 22, 2016 4:33 PM ET USA
One needn't be seriously ill in Belgium or the Netherlands. But I'm sure the Cardinal knows that. Doctors are involved now but, as with the rise in chemical abortion, soon enough they won't be. A horrid thing to contemplate. Saint Theresa of Calcutta said the opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference. How right she was.
