Some 20 years ago, Deacon Alan Rastrelli, MD, switched focus in his medical career from anesthesiologist to hospice and palliative care physician because of his concern over states approving physician-assisted suicide laws. Colorado, the state in which he practices medicine, is one of them. Iowans have reason for concern as well because advocates with a misguided sense of compassion lobby year after year to legalize physician-assisted suicide to end the suffering of terminally ill Iowans.
Dr. Tim Millea of the St. Thomas Aquinas Guild of the Quad Cities invited Deacon Rastrelli to give a presentation Oct. 20, following the White Mass at St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Church in Davenport, which recognized health care professionals. These professionals would be on the front lines of the ethical confrontation, if life-ending legislation were to succeed in Iowa.
Earlier this year, advocates of physician-assisted suicide introduced “Iowa Our Care, Our Options Act.” Passage of the law would have allowed “terminally ill patients who meet certain requirements to request life-ending medication” (deathwithdignity.org/states/iowa/). Thankfully, the bill did not advance but our belief in the sanctity of life requires us to remain vigilant and to register our opposition when calls for life-ending legislation resurface. Advocacy must lead to compassion in the true sense of that term — accompanying loved ones and others with terminal illnesses on their journey to eternity.
Deacon Rastrelli’s excellent presentation covered the societal pressures leading to physician-assisted suicide laws and euthanasia: the mystery of suffering and death; how we can relieve suffering at the end of life; and consulting with the Divine Physician in serious illness and the end of life. “Our society avoids suffering like the plague; and the drive to forestall death has evolved into the goal to avoid it at all costs,” Deacon Rastrelli observed. “As Christians, we profess that Our Savior’s death and resurrection conquered our bodily death.”
Still, Deacon Rastrelli understands why some people view physician-assisted suicide as an act of compassion. “Advances in medicine have allowed us to live longer,” he said. “There’s a lot of unrelieved pain and suffering that has been going on with these prolonged illnesses that sometimes medication does not adequately address.”
He cited St. John Paul II’s encyclical, “Evangelium Vitae” (“The Gospel of Life,” 1995, https://tinyurl.com/bddr8rks), which offers this insightful point about the true meaning of compassion:
“True ‘compassion’ leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering we cannot bear. Moreover, the act of euthanasia appears all the more perverse if it is carried out by those, like relatives, who are supposed to treat a family member with patience and love, or by those, such as doctors, who by virtue of their specific profession are supposed to care for the sick person even in the most painful terminal stages” (No. 66).
St. John Paul II said that the temptation of someone confronted with suffering and death to “give up in utter desperation, is above all a request for companionship, sympathy and support in the time of trial. It is a plea for help to keep on hoping when all human hopes fail” (No. 67). We become the face of Christ when we accompany this person on their journey to eternal life.
We have some discernment to do. The following helpful advice comes from Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates, who wrote a letter in 2016 on “Compassionate, faith-filled care at the end of life” when he was Bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines (https://tinyurl.com/yc5dmpwn):
- Prayerfully consider the options available when loved ones or we ourselves receive difficult news.
- As Catholics, become familiar with the Church’s guidance on end of life issues.
- Provide care to persons who are seriously ill and who are dying.
- Offer powerful testimony to the Gospel by defending the dignity of human life from conception until natural death, and by making faithful decisions about end-of-life care for our loved ones and ourselves.
In addition, let us pray, reflect on Scripture and read these resources:
- Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Healthcare Services (https://tinyurl.com/2sbtbpd2).
- “Evangelium Vitae” (https://tinyurl.com/bddr8rks).
- Bishop Pates’ letter (https://tinyurl.com/yc5dmpwn).
- Keep abreast of the Iowa Legislature through the Iowa Catholic Conference (iowacatholicconference.org) and The Catholic Messenger.
Death with dignity happens when we practice compassion, sharing the faith that gives hope to our suffering companions on the journey toward eternal life.
Barb Arland-Fye, Editor
arland-fye@davenportdiocese.org