Reddit reviews Handbook on Critical Life Issues

We cannot support someone’s decision to commit suicide. We can debate the role and effectiveness of government in intervening to prevent it though. I am referring to suicide in general here.

I am guessing what you are really asking about, though, is physician assisted suicide, where a doctor would either administer a lethal dose of some drug at the patient’s request, or would provide the means for the patient to administer the drug themselves under supervision/direction.

The Church’s position would be that this is a grave evil and a violation of the sanctity of human life. It should be outlawed. That is, a physician should not be able to directly end the life of a patient or to help the patient end their own life.

That said, the Church recognizes a person’s right to end treatment and allow a natural death to occur. This in the case of a life-preserving treatment which has become extraordinarily burdensome (the treatment is burdensome, not the life itself).

But then you get into conversations about ordinary versus extraordinary care, and each case must be handled individually. It gets complicated and there are people who specialize in bioethics for this reason.

The point is, the direct, intentional ending of a life is prohibited. What is permitted is to let nature take its course and to ease pain.

Caveat: this is my understanding of Church teaching. I have taken an introductory level course in Catholic bioethics at the local seminary, but this in no way makes me an expert.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center will have much better and more authoritative information. They also have a hotline for urgent medical questions to help those in ministry to the sick and dying, or for family members making decisions for their loved ones.

Books we read in that course:

Handbook on Critical Life Issues

Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics

Caveat #2: note the use of words like “direct” and “intentional” in my response. Really, there’s a lot to consider in end of life and bioethical issues. The principle of double effect comes into play. It gets really messy. Talk to experts if you want to go deeper.