Not all of us will have a sudden death. Some of us approaching the end of life will have the opportunity to choose how to die. This realisation came to me nearly three years ago when on my admission to the local emergency department I was asked by someone I assumed was a doctor whether, should the need arise, I wanted to be resuscitated. It was an issue I had never determined, and to my support people I had not provided any instructions. From my learnings I knew that resuscitation could make a bad situation worse. At the time I gathered that once resuscitated, I could be flown by helicopter to the regional hospital and that at my age my presence there could be questioned, especially if there was nothing else to do than make me comfortable. Somewhat stunned by what confronted me, I did sign the no resuscitation consent paper. However, after a few hours in the emergency ward, I was admitted into the care of the local hospital. Three days later I was discharged and returned home. If the like happens again, I hope to be more prepared, and less alone!
It is nearly three years since the Church and fellow travellers lost their campaign to oppose the passing of the End of Life Choice Bill. The Ministry of Health in New Zealand is now responsible for implementing the Act. This includes making regulations, developing policy, and providing guidance to the health sector. From the 7th of November this year assisted dying will be legal with support facilities in place, just as for abortions. With polling of public opinion running 70% in agreement, the euthanasia that we opposed will be normalised. In our campaign we advanced ethical human reasoning but did not prevail in the debate. The other side advanced what they considered rational human reasoning to counter our case. We lost. So, what now?
We must turn to another Power, who is at hand in every moment of our faith journey, and who will be there for us at the end of life. The One who knows our days and helps us to decide how to live and how to die. Visitors to my blogsite will see that in 2020 I posted that the time is at hand when those who have opposed abortion and euthanasia will, without forsaking their human reasoning, need to open and reveal the rich treasury of their faith traditions. These provide perspectives for people who believe in God to help themselves and support their friends in the community, even more necessary where the euthanasia made available by New Zealand law from November 7th is being seen as sensible and convenient. The officer in my local hospital who asked about resuscitation was not wrong in presenting the no resuscitation form. Medical sciences have advanced up to and beyond thresholds where too much intervention becomes an issue. This point was made in Marist Messenger, July 2021: “how to die” should be seen now not as providing euthanasia services but rather as supporting alternative ways of “letting go”.
Anne Kerrigan in Euthanasia or Letting Go? affirms members of the medical profession not only for their scientific and technical advances but also for making some moves towards educating patients and families about end-of-life issues. She references palliative care, and that palliative care often leads a patient to hospice care. Kerrigan asserts that the medical community cannot do it alone. She asks: “How do we, as communities of faith, help people to think about the specifics of end-of-life decisions?” Is there a ‘Respect Life’ committee near you? Kerrigan suggests that likely it was set up to focus on the abortion issue; urgent now for such groups to explore the spirituality of death and dying. Not through euthanasia as envisaged in the End of Life Choice Act, but rather through what she describes as Letting Go.
For Kerrigan Letting Go is:
• To trust in the words of Christ that promise everlasting life.
• To be companions to one another, especially to those who are in the throes of the final journey.
• To provide the support structures and skills needed to help one another, especially at the end of life.
• To show the dying that they have not been abandoned by the human community, the medical community, or by God.
Anne Kerrigan article, complete text:
Euthanasia or Letting Go (maristmessenger.co.nz)
