Life-sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State

        In his address of 20 March 2004 to the participants of the International Congress on “Life-sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State”, Pope John Paul II clarified the Church’s position on the treatment of persons in vegetative state, who “shows no evident sign of self-awareness or of awareness of the environment, and seems unable to interact with others or to react to specific stimuli” (John Paul II’s Address, 2). The Pope reiterated that a patient who is in vegetative state is still fully human and should continue to be respected with full human dignity. The adjective vegetative should not be construed as if the person has become a vegetable or an animal (John Paul II’s Address, 3). As such, the patient should be entitled to normal patient care, including nutrition, hydration, cleanliness and warmth as his basic right. The administration of water and food, even by artificial method, is the natural means of preserving life (for any person), and not a medical act. Moreover, feeding and hydrating a patient in vegetative state is ordinary and proportionate and not an extraordinary treatment (John Paul II’s Address, 4). It is therefore morally obligatory to treat the patient with food and water to ensure that he will not be suffered to death resulting from starving and dehydration, which is extremely inhuman.

        Some people advocate that if the probability of recovery is very slim (e.g., the patient is in vegetative state for over one year, i.e., in so-called permanent vegetative state), the supply of food and water would no longer be warranted. However, the Pope stressed that this cannot be the justification for withdrawal of minimum care for the patient, or else he will certainly die as a result of the lack of care, which ends up to be euthanasia by omission, an intentional killing act of an innocent person (John Paul II’s Address, 4). As a matter of fact, “the value of a man's life cannot be made subordinate to any judgment of its quality expressed by other men” (John Paul II’s Address, 6). As a side issue, no one can accurately predict whether a patient in vegetative state, even for a prolonged period, would never “wake up” one day. As a humanity act, the administration of food and water can only be stopped if the patient can no longer assimilate food and water by his own body (Smith & Kaczor 113). Finally, for those families who have had their loved ones in vegetative state, the society should provide the necessary financial and psychological support for them to face the very difficult situations (John Paul II’s Address, 6).

Bibliography

Pope John Paul II. "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas." Vatican, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2015.

Smith, Janet E., and Christopher Robert Kaczor. Life Issues, Medical Choices: Questions and Answers for Catholics. Cincinnati, OH: St. Anthony Messenger, 2007. Print.