In this presentation, Michael Arthur Vacca, M.Theol., JD, BA, Catholic bioethicist and Director of Ministry, Bioethics, and Membership Experience at Christ Medicus Foundation, addresses the moral and spiritual dangers of assisted suicide. Rooted in Catholic teaching, he explains how terms such as “death with dignity” and “medical aid in dying” obscure the reality of assisted […]
OPPOSING ASSISTED SUICIDE Read More »
In June 2020, 24-year-old Margo Naranjo sustained a severe brain injury after she was involved in a multi-vehicle auto accident. Although the doctor’s prognosis was poor, her parents’ love for her and their strong Catholic faith provided the hope they needed. Leaning on their faith, they used social media to request prayers for strength and
By Michael Arthur Vacca and Louis Brown Jr. The American Academy of Neurology has altered its guidelines, at great cost to the life and dignity of patients. What if your local hospital could declare your family member “brain dead” even though part of her brain was still functioning? What if the hospital could use that illegitimate
A FALSE DEFINITION OF ‘BRAIN DEATH,’ AND A DOORWAY TO EUTHANASIA Read More »
– yet, they keep updating their guidelines. That alone should give us pause. This newest iteration actually changes the definition of brain death from “irreversible” cessation of all brain function to “permanent” loss of function. The Uniform Law Commission recently declined to adopt this change because it is too subjective. A permanent brain injury is
The Health Care Civil Rights Task Force strongly condemns proposed changes to the Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA) that would allow for subjective determinations of death. The Uniform Law Commission, a non-profit group of lawyers that creates model legislation to bring uniformity to state laws, week recently to discuss changing how death is determined.
According to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), one in eight death row inmates is found to be wrongly convicted. In other words, there is close to a 13% chance that a prisoner scheduled to be executed is innocent. Advocacy groups like EJI are dedicated to ending the death penalty based on this injustice—the risk of
HALF THE TIME DOCTORS SAY PATIENTS ARE IN A “VEGETATIVE STATE,” THEY’RE ACTUALLY WRONG Read More »
Emily Cook, Texas Right to Life’s General Counsel, presents the three points you NEED to know about brain death diagnosis in Texas, including the three questions you ABSOLUTELY MUST ask the doctors caring for your loved one.
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT BRAIN DEATH IN TEXAS Read More »
Physical and cognitive disability should not mean one’s situation is considered “end of life,” yet too many persons who are not dying are described this way. Earlier this year, Oregon’s state legislature considered a bill that would have increased the number of medically vulnerable persons at risk of an untimely death. Oregon’s SB 494 would
BASIC CARE, HUMAN DIGNITY, AND CARE FOR MEDICALLY VULNERABLE PERSONS Read More »
The Catholic teaching is clear: “The ordinary care owed to a sick person cannot be legitimately interrupted.” (CCC 2279) Two Jesuit priests, Father John J. Paris, a professor emeritus at Boston College, and Father Kevin Wildes, a professor at St. Joseph’s University, recently published an article, “Making an idol of brain-injured patients.” The priests were
TERRI SCHIAVO, THE BRAIN INJURED AND CHURCH TEACHING Read More »