"pulling The Plug"

[jazzytakara]

Here is the situation:

[color=#333333][font='lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]In the case with my great grandmother, my grandmother and her sister made the decision as next of kin, as life saving methods would only prolong her agony as she was going to die very soon anyway. Before they made the decision, my great grandmother's state was such that she could no longer intake food on her own, no longer take the medications necessary to help her illness (Alzheimers, pneumonia, and a contagious disease that developed in her weakened immune system), the doctor's tried to insert an IV, but her body rejected it. Her organs have been failing since August, and she was choking on her on secretions. The doctors explained that they couldn't save her as her body was rejecting all forms of aid, so they chose to remove the systems that remained, as they were extraordinary measures that would only prolong the moment of death. Her death will be natural, they aren't giving her anything that will kill her. They gave her painkillers and something to stop the secretions, and put her into a state of sleep, so that when she does pass she is asleep and ideally painless.[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#333333][font='lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]I don't think its the same as euthanasia, as my great grandmother consented in the past to not continue life saving methods in events such as these (she had watched her mother slowly die of similar when she was young, and didn't want the same for herself). It isn't doctor assisted suicide either, as they aren't aiding in killing herself, I guess its like letting nature run its course as her body was already shutting down and the machines were only making it painful and keeping her aware of the pain.[/size][/font][/color]

[color=#333333][font='lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif][size=3]I've read that there is a difference between life support being used as an extraordinary method that is only prolonging the moment of death, and in ordinary cases where life support will save the life. I was just wondering what the church teaching is on event such as what has recently happened in my family. I'm the only Catholic in this part of my family, there are some protestants, agnostics, and atheists. So although they may not know what the Catholic Church thinks, I would like to know, as it has been at the back of my mind.[/size][/font][/color]

[font="lucida grande, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif"][size="2"][color="#333333"]​Also is it wrong to place a to state in a will or medical release that if someone is at a point where life saving methods will not save the life, only prolong death, to end life supporting methods?[/color][/size][/font]

[Theoketos]

What you wrote above sounds like passive euthanasia, which is really not euthanasia.

So what happened is morally licit.

See Evangelium Vitae

[color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]65. For a correct moral judgment on euthanasia, in the first place a clear definition is required. Euthanasia in the strict sense is understood to be an action or omission which of itself and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating all suffering. "Euthanasia's terms of reference, therefore, are to be found in the intention of the will and in the methods used".76[/font][/color]

[color=#000000][font=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Euthanasia must be distinguished from the decision to forego so-called "aggressive medical treatment", in other words, medical procedures which no longer correspond to the real situation of the patient, either because they are by now disproportionate to any expected results or because they impose an excessive burden on the patient and his family. In such situations, when death is clearly imminent and inevitable, one can in conscience "refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted".77 Certainly there is a moral obligation to care for oneself and to allow oneself to be cared for, but this duty must take account of concrete circumstances. It needs to be determined whether the means of treatment available are objectively proportionate to the prospects for improvement. To forego extraordinary or disproportionate means is not the equivalent of suicide or euthanasia; it rather expresses acceptance of the human condition in the face of death. 78[/font][/color]

[quote name='jazzytakara' timestamp='1352600189' post='2507963']
[size=2][color=#333333]Also is it wrong to place a to state in a will or medical release that if someone is at a point where life saving methods will not save the life, only prolong death, to end life supporting methods?[/color][/size]
[/quote]

Typically no. In other words, you may reject extra-ordinary means to prolong life for yourself.