WASHINGTON (March 9, 2005) — Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman
of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee for Pro-Life Activities, stressed
Church teaching on nutrition and hydration in a March 9 statement.
His remarks followed a statement by the bishops of Florida who
recently spoke out regarding the case of Terri Schiavo, a woman at
the heart of a controversy over withholding nutrition and
hydration from people with cognitive disabilities.
Cardinal Keeler’s statement follows.
The case of Terri Schindler Schiavo in Florida has focused
national attention on the plight of patients diagnosed as being
in a “vegetative” state.
In a speech last year, Pope John Paul II affirmed the
inherent dignity of every human being: “Even our brothers and
sisters who find themselves in the clinical condition of a
‘vegetative state’,” he said, “retain their human dignity in all
its fullness.” They are not “vegetables,” but fellow human
beings in need of our love and care.
The Holy Father added that these patients have “the right to
basic health care (nutrition, hydration, cleanliness, warmth,
etc.).” He reminded us that providing water and food, even by
artificial means, is “morally obligatory, insofar as and until
it is seen to have attained its proper finality, which in the
present case consists in providing nourishment to the patient
and alleviation of his suffering.”
There are times when even such basic means may cease to be
morally obligatory, because they have become useless or unduly
burdensome for the patient. Deliberately to remove them in order
to hasten a patient’s death, however, would be a form of
euthanasia, which is gravely wrong.
I applaud the February 28 statement of the Catholic bishops
of Florida, applying this teaching to the Schiavo case. The
bishops reiterated their plea that Terri Schindler Schiavo
“continue to receive all treatments and care that will be of
benefit to her.” I join with them in praying that those who hold
power over Terri Schindler Schiavo’s fate will see that she
“continues to receive nourishment, comfort and loving care.”