In the classic movie It's a Wonderful Life, George Bailey discovers how mistaken he was to wish that he had never been born. With the angel Clarence's guidance, George's whole perspective changes. He discovers that life is wonderful--adversities and all. A human life is precious beyond ...

Having a child die is a devastating experience for any family. Having a child die due to negligence, or discrimination in care or treatment, adds a whole new level of pain for families and loved ones. Imagine finding out that a do-not-resuscitate order was put into your child's chart without ...

By Ralph A. Capone, M.D. and Julie Grimstad Conscientious objection, when exercised by healthcare practitioners, is a refusal to provide a legal "medical service" (such as abortion or assisted suicide) that conflicts with their deeply held religious or moral convictions. Calls to Exclude Conscientious Objectors from Medical Practice On ...
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LifeNews published an article by Michael Cook, entitled "American Psychiatric Association Takes Strong Stance Against Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia" This article immediately raised red flags. Dr. Karl Benzio, MD, founder and director of Lighthouse Network, has ...
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By Chris Kahlenborn, MD The specific question of whether to place a stomach tube in a patient who has had a stroke or has advanced dementia is one of the most difficult dilemmas for patients and/or family members who often have questions regarding the ethics of either giving or withholding ...
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The tragic cases of Nancy Cruzan and Christine Busalacchi, young Missouri women who were alleged to be in a "persistent vegetative state," and starved and dehydrated to death, outraged those of us in Missouri Nurses for Life and we took action. Besides educating people about ...
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A new Illinois law just signed by Governor Bruce Rauner has dire implications for pro-life healthcare providers. According to the National Catholic Register ("Illinois Law Threatens Conscience Rights, Crisis-Pregnancy Centers," August 9, 2016), this new law changes the former state Health Care Right of ...
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New Hampshire: Testimony Opposing SB426 (Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia Commission) Euphemistically called Aid in Dying, but is really Permission to Kill. Note: Dr. Benzio’s testimony has been condensed for this newsletter. Hello. My name is Karl Benzio. I am the Pennsylvania Director for the American Academy of Medical Ethics, and the ...

Texas, a State Where Patients' Wishes Don't Matter by Texas Right to Life Two days before Christmas, forty-six-year-old Chris Dunn died at Houston Methodist Hospital. Chris was a loving son, brother, and friend. He served his local and national communities as an EMT, police dispatcher, and employee at the Department ...

Palliative care is both a new medical specialty and an approach to patient care that is much discussed today. It is an elusive and provocative topic for patients and health care professionals alike, because its meaning is determined by which of two broad perspectives is under consideration. One view of ...

Jim is 79 years old and resides in a county nursing home in Pennsylvania. He has needed a wheelchair for over two decades due to advanced MS, with a history of severe decubitus ulcers, recurrent respiratory infections and severe urinary tract infections (UTI). A stalwart pro-lifer and deeply committed Catholic, ...

The Texas Advance Directives Law was amended in 1999 to allow physicians to refuse to provide life-sustaining treatment (including nutrition and hydration) which patients or their authorized decision-makers (agents) have requested. In a dispute, the hospital ethics committee makes the final decision. The usual outcome is that this hospital-appointed committee ...

A Nurse's Perspective on Life, Healthcare and Ethics ...

OCTOBER 29, 2014 BY DRS. JAY BOYD AND PAUL A. BYRNE It is likely that most Catholics consider the question of the morality of organ donation to be a settled matter, and to view it as a noble and generous gesture on the part of donors. After all, the Catechism ...

A person's inability to satisfy our longing for response does not justify abandonment or imposed death Human beings are not "vegetables." The dehumanizing term "persistent vegetative state" (PVS), crafted in 1972, became more familiar in the 1980s as "right to die" activists, courts, state legislatures, physicians and bioethicists[1] began to ...

1. No matter what life-sustaining procedure/medical treatment is in question, when in doubt, err on the side of life. You can always try an intervention with the option of stopping it if it proves ineffective or excessively burdensome for the patient. 2. It is the physician’s obligation to truthfully and ...

Linking the "right to die" with organ donation has opened a terrible Pandora's Box In the US, whether we are renewing our drivers’ licenses, watching the TV news or just picking up a newspaper, it’s impossible to miss the campaign to persuade us to sign an organ donation card. We ...

I feel blessed to have grown up and become a nurse in the era of TV programs like Marcus Welby, MD, Ben Casey, and Medical Center. I couldn’t wait to be part of such a noble profession and I proudly recited the “Florence Nightingale Pledge,” the nursing equivalent of the ...

Withdrawal of treatment, “living wills”, terminal sedation, assisted suicide, organ donation, etc. Currently, it’s virtually impossible to escape all the death talk in the media and elsewhere. For example, if you are admitted to a hospital for almost any reason, you or your relatives will be asked if you have ...

Below is a position statement, signed by over 120 people from 19 nations, including physicans, philosophers, and theologians, opposing brain death criteria for human death. It has been released through the auspices of Earl Appelby, Jr. of Citizens United Resisting Euthanasia ([email protected]; he would have the most updated list of ...