(OSV News) — During February, Pope Francis’ monthly intentions asked the faithful to pray for the terminally ill — as well as their families — with the petition that they “receive the necessary physical and spiritual care and accompaniment.”
Such a plea is — for both those professionally and personally concerned with end-of-life ethics — increasingly urgent in America, where 2024 has seen suicide-enabling legislation introduced or pending in 18 state legislatures.
While those who support euthanasia and medically assisted suicide emphasize empowerment and control, Catholic opponents argue an undeniably dangerous and dystopian dimension has begun to emerge in the sometimes profit-driven realms of health care insurance and medicine: the cost-benefit ratio of prescribing death for terminal patients versus palliative care. CONTINUE