wfn.org | End-of-Life Decisions

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS 97" by SUSAN PEEK on April 15, 1997 at 14:24
Eastern, about DAILY NEWS RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (32
notes).

Note 31 by UMNS on April 22, 1997 at 15:34 Eastern (5390 characters).

Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT: Linda Green                               219(10-71B){31}
         Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5470            April 22, 1997

Teleconference focuses
on end-of-life decisions

                 by United Methodists News Service
     NASHVILLE, Tenn-- Participants in 165 downlink teleconference
sights wrestled with ethical and theological questions that are
critical to end-of-life decisions during a live four and one half
hour satellite conference April 17.     
     "Living Well, Dying Well: Facing End of Life Decisions"
allowed clergy and members of their congregations, chaplains,
medical and health care givers and social service professionals to 
discuss death as part of the quality of life.
     Using panel presentations, discussions among on-site viewers, 
call-in questions and a video case study, the program examined
from theological and ethial perspectives, issues such as death
with dignity, the right to die and assisted suicide.
     Viewers also had opportunity to reflect on their beliefs,
values and feelings about decisions regarding their own medical
care under various circumstances. Topics discussed included living
wills, advance directives, health-care proxies, organ/tissue
donations and pastoral care.
     Each of the eight panelists appearing on the teleconference
brought personal experiences to end-of-life decisions. Some, such
as the Rev. Donald Messer, president of Iliff School of Theology,
Denver, described the pain of choosing whether to withhold
treatment from a terminally ill family member. 
     "It's the experience of dirty-hands," he said. "It is
wondering if I did the right thing and knowing that is a choice
between two evils."  
     The teleconference was sponsored by the Iliff School of
Theology and United Methodist Communications; in cooperation with
Health and Welfare Ministries Unit of the United Methodist Board
of Global Ministries and the United Methodist Publishing House. It
aired on the heels of the April 16 passage of a United States
Senate bill that would prohibit use of federal funds for doctor-
assisted suicide. The bill is expected to be signed into law by
President Clinton in the immediate future.
     According to press reports, the bill, while banning federal
funding, does not address the broader ethical issues of assisted
suicide, such as whether or not there is a constitutional "right
to die." 
     The teleconference, the brainchild of Suzanne Calvin, Iliff's
director of public information, was designed to encourage 
widespread dialogue among Christians about the theological,
ethical and moral issues affecting both life and death.      
     Calvin said it was her hope that the teleconference would be
the "stimulus" for clergy, laity and medical professionals to
begin communicating with each other.    
     The teleconference panelists included Messer, Sally Brown
Geis, a retired Iliff faculty member and a clinical faculty member
at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center; the Rev. J.
Phillip Wogaman, pastor at Foundry United Methodist Church,
Washington; the Rev. Joretta Marshall, Iliff assistant professor
of pastoral care; the Rev. Cornish R. Rogers, associate dean and
professor of evangelism at Claremont School of Theology; William
Orr, a Denver physician specializing in the care of older adults;
Janet Jones, a registered nurse and director of Catholic Hospice
in Miami, Fla., and Richard Zaner, professor of medical ethics,
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn. 
     With  Messer and Geis' new book, How Shall We Die? Helping
Christians Debate Suicide, as the backdrop, viewers of the
teleconference were challenged to search within themselves to find
out what it means to say that God is the giver of life. 
     According to Messer, "There is no one position expressed in
the book but it is an attempt to understand different religious
perspectives on the question of assisted death," he said. 
     Messer said that historically the Christian church and
western legal ethics have postulated that suicide in any form was
wrong and that life was to be preserved at any cost. He said
people often are "prone to say that we shouldn't play God -- let
death be natural."
     With the advent of modern medicine and available technology,
Messer said, life is being extended. "We have already started at
playing God with how long people live." 
     Geis said medical technology and information are a blessing
when people who are dying are able to live full and happy lives
for an extended period of time. She said medical advancement
becomes a curse when a person is kept alive under circumstances
that "are so uncomfortable and demeaning that one can reasonably
call into question the quality of the patient's life." 
     Joretta Marshall said clergy dealing with end-of-life
decisions among their parishioners should recognize that they are
walking with people in their faith journey. "You are not trying to
make choices for them," she said. "People's faith comes to light
in the midst of decisions."
     Part of pastoral care is reminding people that God is present
and sustaining in the midst of painful decisions, she added.
                               # # #
      

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