Responses to Bouchard's Confusions

Food and water are ordinary care

Although there are points I could agree with in the March 24 commentary by Father Charles E. Bouchard on Terri Schiavo, his use of the phrase "medical intervention" jumped out at me.

Food and water are not "medical intervention," as respirators, fancy drugs and other mechanical appliances might be. Food and water - at least for the non-dying patient - fall into the same category as Schiavo's bed and the roof over her head, clean sheets and bed baths. These we call comfort care.

When was the last time readers of this newspaper thought of food and water for their own bodies as "medical intervention"?

Contrary to what Bouchard is implying, the Roman Catholic Church in fact teaches that food and water are part of "ordinary" (as opposed to "extraordinary") care, which should be given all non-dying patients.

Jocelyn Johnson, Hospice R.N.
Hillsboro

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In his March 24 commentary, Father Charles Bouchard asked whether it was possible that removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is euthanasia. He did not mention that Pope John Paul II gave an important speech last year on nutrition and hydration of persons in a "vegetative state." The pope said it was morally obligatory to administer food and water to such persons.

The pope argued: "The evaluation of probabilities, founded on waning hopes for recovery when the vegetative state is prolonged beyond a year, cannot ethically justify the cessation or interruption of minimal care for the patient, including nutrition and hydration. Death by starvation or dehydration is, in fact, the only possible outcome as a result of their withdrawal. In this sense it ends up becoming, if done knowingly and willingly, true and proper euthanasia by omission."

I also think it was unfair of Bouchard to imply that those who think we are morally obligated to give food and water to persons in the so-called "vegetative state" somehow lack hope in God's promise of eternal life or think there is nothing more than this earthly life. After all, Christians believe that how we treat the neediest among us has a great deal to do with the eternal life we hope to enjoy.

The central issue that the Schiavo case raises is whether we as a society will respect the full human dignity of those trapped in a tragic condition like hers or whether we will permit them to be euthanized because we think of them as useless, spiritually or otherwise.

Lawrence J. Welch
Professor of Systematic Theology,
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
Shrewsbury

From today's Post-Dispatch Letters section