wfn.org | Lambeth Conference takes stand against euthanasia

["Lambeth98" <storm@indigo.ie>]

ACNS LC105 - 7 August 1998

Lambeth Conference takes stand against euthanasia

by Margaret Rodgers 
Lambeth Conference Communications

The Lambeth Conference has taken a strong stand against
euthanasia, arguing that it should not be "permitted in civil
legislation." 

The resolution affirmed the basic theological & ethical principle
that "life is God-given and has intrinsic sanctity, significance
and worth." It also declared that euthanasia, precisely defined,
is "neither compatible with the Christian faith nor should it be
permitted in civil legislation." 

The report of the Lambeth sub-section that considered euthanasia
stressed that human beings, though flawed by sin, have the
capacity to make free and responsible moral choices; that human
meaning and purpose is found in relationship with God; and that
this life is not the sum total of human existence, since "we find
our ultimate fulfilment in eternity with God through Christ."

Defining the term

The bishops were careful to outline what euthanasia was not, with
the intention of clarifying some of the confusion in thinking on
the issue. They distinguished between euthanasia as an
intentional act to cause a death, and actions of withholding,
withdrawing, declining or terminating excessive medical treatment
of someone in a permanent vegetative state (PVS). They said these
latter actions may all be consonant with Christian faith in
enabling a person to die with dignity. 

"Euthanasia simply means 'a good death,' and everyone wants a
good death," said the Archbishop Peter Hollingworth of Brisbane
(Australia), chair of the subsection that prepared the report.
His church province includes the Northern Territory where
euthanasia laws were introduced and then overturned.

Archbishop Hollingworth said that there was a good deal of
confusion in people's minds about what euthanasia actually means.
He and his group offered the Lambeth Conference a carefully
drafted definition.

"Precisely defined, euthanasia means an act by which one person
intentionally causes or assists in causing the death of another
who is terminally or seriously ill in order to end the other's
pain and suffering," Archbishop Hollingworth said.

He emphasised in his speech that they were talking only of
withdrawal of treatment that was keeping someone in a condition
of PVS (Permanent Vegitative State) alive. The bishops did not
mean withdrawal of treatment from a patient in a comatose state.

Archbishop Moses Tay of Singapore, a medical doctor, argued that
administering nutrients to a PVS patient was medically and
culturally appropriate in his region and urged the Conference to
reject the motion.

"Those who advocate euthanasia show little awareness of the
Christian experience that people may be redeemed and transfigured
through their suffering," Archbishop Hollingworth said. He told
reporters a key part of his sub-group's work was drawing a
distinction between allowing a terminally ill patient to die and
actively causing that death.

However, he said, the use of increased dosages of analgesics
which may indirectly hasten the death of a terminally ill patient
would not fall under the definition of euthanasia. The use of
"gradual increases of dosages" (of analgesics) was now a
"widespread and well-accepted practice," Archbishop Hollingworth
said. 

For further information, contact:

   Lambeth Conference Communications
   Canterbury Business School
   University of Kent at Canterbury
   Telephone: 01227 827348/9
   Fax: 01227 828085
   Mobile: 0374 800212

   http://www.lambethconference.org