Mercy killing right?

Increasingly in the United States and in other countries, it is now legal to stop providing food and water to a patient who is terminally ill or in a seemingly irreversible comatose or vegetative state. This is called "passive euthanasia": a serious moral evil that the Church has repeatedly condemned.

Do not be deceived by the way in which the secular media falsely presents the options here. All too often the media portrays the dynamic as a choice between two options. On the one hand is keeping people alive as long as possible, no matter how "far gone" they are or how painful and burdensome their treatment may be. On the other hand is so-called "mercy killing."

It is one thing to cease painful and expensive medical treatment that has little chance of significantly improving the condition of the patient. The Church has always recognized that there is a point at which such medical intervention becomes pointless and burdensome, and that in such cases a person should be permitted to die a dignified death, with the assistance of appropriate pain-reducing medications and the prayers and loving support of family members, friends, and parish communities. All this is included in what is called "palliative care."In other words, "mercy killing" is not merciful! It is a deliberate taking of an innocent human life, and it therefore is a violation of the dignity and unalienable rights of those who are gravely ill.