...distinguished between "ordinary" and "extraordinary" means of life-prolonging treatment. He stated that: When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the...a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life. b. Neasden Hospital 0rder (1965) A sign posted on a bulletin board in Neasden Hospital in Great Brtain...

...Deciding to Forego Ufe-Sustainiiig Treatment, Appendix B, 300-307 (1983) wherein it is stated that: "When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscious to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and...

...differences in religious persuasion. Although allied with the "pro-lifers," Pope John Paul II stated in 1980, "It is permitted in conscience to take the decision...secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life."30 Cases of massive burns are among those in which an earlier death can be chosen. During a two-year...

..."normal care due to the sick person in similar circumstances" is maintained, one may with good conscience refuse "forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life," and physicians acquiescing in such refusal have no reason for self-reproach. The document concludes...

...of the Faith to the care of the terminally ill in its 1980 Declaration on Euthanasia, which states: When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the...prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted. In other words, while the Catholic tradition forcefully...

...a wish to avoid the application of a medical procedure disproportionate to the results that can he expected or a desire not to impose excessive expense...care due to the sick person in similar cases is not intetrupted. In such circumstances, the doctor has no reason to reproach himself with failing to help...

...patient to die." Even Pope John Paul II, while condemning euthanasia in a 1980 Vatican declaration, said, "When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the...a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life." This gradual acceptance of passive euthanasia has been reflected in a series of court decisions since...

..."treatment" or "care"? Catholic teaching provides that a person in the final stages of dying need not accept "forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life," but should still receive "the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases." All patients deserve...

...Declaration on Euthanasia, "When inevitable death is imminent ... it is permitted in conscience to make the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would...a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life." Yet when it comes to actively helping someone with a terminal illness to die, Pope John Paul II declared...

...Existence, Medicine & Ethics, Chicago, p. 145. 7. SCDF, Decree on Euthanasia, op. cit., 1980, p. io. When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life,...