Proactive plan
The plan had its genesis in MCC’s work beginning in 1997 to oppose a bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide. Although that bill eventually filed, it was tiled at a rime when things were looking bleak overall, with two cases pcrtaining to physician-assisted suicide before the U.S. Supreme Court. It seemed a ripe opportunity for the Catholic Church to be proactive and prepare for future challenges, and so, later that year, the Massachusetts Bishops approved In Support of Life.
According to Daniel Avila, Esq., Associate Director of Public Policy at MCC, the plan is in the first of three projected phases. The first phase, focusing on the short term, is simply to "get the word out." MCC has already conducted a n number of seminars and workshops outlining the rationale for the plan and distributing teaching materials to the clergy, the response thus far has been encouraging and the material is currently being taught in the various parishes. The second phase focuses on the longer term, with the goal of improving services for the care of the dying, particularly through Catholic institutions and agencies. The third phase will be an effort to influence the culture by making people more aware of the religious dimensions of their end-of-life decisions. There will also be a concerted effort to collaborate with those of other faith communities to ensure the ongoing development and dissemination of education and services.
Reverence for life
At the heart of the plan is a profound respect and reverence for life, recognizing that life is a gift from God. In approaching the dying, Avila is reminded of wisdom he once received, to clear a wide enough path to let grace enter and allowing the grace of God to enter into the process, into the circumstances surrounding death and dying, to ensure that the process becomes holy." He hopes to clear this path in the public arena by having people realize two important principles. The first is that the process of dying is essential for full human growth development and would be short-circuited by assisted suicide or euthanasia. Avila states that there is an essential educational and spiritual lesson that the dying process imposes on us everyone deserves an opportunity, but they can’t do it alone." It requires the encouragement and support of family members, caregivers, health care providers, and others. "It is a process that is very demanding, very burdensome, but can be made less so when you, as a community, approach death and therefore allow the patient, allow the greater opportunity to break through the real pain and suffering that will accompany the process." He describes the challenge as one "to recreate the environment of dying, whether it be in the hospital or in the home." Furthermore, he thinks "there will not be a possibility of doing that if in fact assisted suicide were made available as a matter of public policy, because the incentives would be skewed; and because of those skewed incentives, we would be less likely to put the rime, and the effort, and the money into establishing a humane network of life-affirming care."Importance of relationships
The second important principle is that the dying process is not only about medical and legal relationships, but about relationships we have with family and one another. According to Avila, the legalization of assisted suicide would be tantamount to "offering people a poison not only to end their lives, but a poison that will affect and alter, dramatically so, the relationships that they have with those around them." MCC has conducted research that suggests that one of the greatest fears that people have, were assisted suicide to be made legal, is leaving that kind of decision up to family members!There is real fear that family members would be placed in a position of perhaps encouraging, either unintentionally or even intentionally, the use of assisted suicide to hasten death. Avila and his colleagues were "somewhat surprised" with these results, which are both affirming and at the same rime very troubling On one hand it shows that there are ways that we can reach people and not exploit fears but to raise concerns. And people can begin to see the true ramifications of assisted suicide when it's brought right into their own lives. But it is troubling in this respect, because it may evidence that there’s a breakdown in family networks, and a breakdown that’s poisoning the relationships that we have with our parents, our brothers and sisters, and our kids. And whereas the home and the family should be the source of grace and love and support, in fact, that may not always be the case and that is generating fears." These are indeed very troubling findings that need to be explored further.
Avila concludes, "How can we strengthen family, how can we make the relationships that are so vital to one’s even self-understanding, let alone understanding their role in the world, more vibrant, more open? Because if you allow that to happen, then you unleash generosity and forgiveness and thankfulness and in doing that then nobody would have any inkling to desire assisted suicide. What we would have then instead is an environment ripe for not only full human development, but also, for the deeper taking of root of the spiritual aspect of our lives and for allowing grace to enter and allowing God to enter our lives and to strengthen us and to call us to higher things." Amen.