An Examination of the Revisionist Challenge to the Catholic Tradition on Providing Artificial Nutrition and Hydration to Patients in a Persistent Vegetative State
The Catholic moral tradition has consistently offered the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means as a framework for making end-of-life decisions. Recent papal allocutions, however, have raised the question of whether providing artificial nutrition to patients in a persistent vegetative...
Main Author: | |
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Format: | Electronic Article |
Language: | English |
Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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Published: |
Oxford University Press
2011
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In: |
Christian bioethics
Year: 2011, Volume: 17, Issue: 2, Pages: 153-164 |
Online Access: |
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Parallel Edition: | Electronic
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Summary: | The Catholic moral tradition has consistently offered the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means as a framework for making end-of-life decisions. Recent papal allocutions, however, have raised the question of whether providing artificial nutrition to patients in a persistent vegetative state is to be considered ordinary and thus morally obligatory in all cases. I argue that this “revisionist” position is contrary to Catholic teaching and that enforcing such a position would endanger the ability of Catholic health care institutions to minister to all their constituents. |
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ISSN: | 1744-4195 |
Contains: | Enthalten in: Christian bioethics
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Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/cb/cbr013 |