Vatican: Feed 'Vegetative' People Regardless of Prognosis
The Vatican reaffirmed its teaching on the sanctity of human life by stating Friday that nutrition and hydration should be provided to individuals in persistent "vegetative state."
Patients in a "vegetative state" are living human beings with inherent dignity and deserve the same basic care as other patients, responded the Holy See to the formal questioning of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Basic care includes nutrition and hydration, even when provided through artificial assistance.
"The administration of food and water even by artificial means is, in principle, an ordinary and proportionate means of preserving life," responded the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department that oversees Catholic doctrine, according to the USCCB.
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"It is therefore obligatory to the extent to which, and for as long as, it is shown to accomplish its proper finality, which is the hydration and nourishment of the patient," the Congregation added. "In this way suffering and death by starvation and dehydration are prevented."
The Vatican further affirmed that a patient should receive ordinary care, such as food and water, regardless of prognosis of recovery and recommendation by physicians.
In response, the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation thanked the Holy See for reaffirming the moral need to care for people in "vegetative" state.
"It is our fervent hope that the clergy, religious and those who administer Catholic health care, as well as the laity who persistently ignored the basic right to life of our daughter and sister Terri…will begin to open their eyes and hearts to the immutable and incontrovertible truth re-affirmed by the Holy See today," the foundation expressed in a statement.
Terri Schindler Schiavo, who remained in a "vegetative" state for 15 years, died in 2005 when her feeding tube was removed against the will of her family after the court ruled in favor of her husband and guardian Michael Schiavo. Since her death, the Schindlers have started a foundation in her name to help people with disabilities and facing potential life-threatening situations avoid an outcome like Terri's.
In its clarification, the Vatican did, however, note exceptions to the church teaching. Exceptions include people living in remote places or in extreme poverty where provision of food and water may be physically impossible.
In addition, basic care can morally be terminated if a patient is unable to assimilate food and liquids so as the care becomes useless or if the nourishment causes the patient significant discomfort.
"These exceptional cases, however, take nothing away from the general ethical criterion, according to which the provision of water and food, even by artificial means, always represents a natural means for preserving life, and is not a therapeutic treatment," clarified the Vatican. "Its use should therefore be considered ordinary and proportionate, even when the 'vegetative state' is prolonged."
The USCCB had asked the Holy See for clarification of the Church's teaching after Pope John Paul II's address on March 20, 2004, to an international congress sponsored by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations.
"We are grateful that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responded to our request with such a thorough investigation and explanation," said Bishop William E. Lori of Bridgeport, Connecticut, chair of the U.S. bishops' Committee for Doctrine.
"We hope the Church's documents on this issue will provide help and guidance to pastors, ethicists, doctors, nurses and families involved in the care of those diagnosed as being in a persistent 'vegetative state.'"
