The Catholic Church in India says it cannot accept any proposal to introduce passive or active euthanasia.
“Legalizing euthanasia would place the lives of vulnerable people at risk, including those whom others might be tempted to think would be better off dead,” warns Father Stephen Fernandes, national secretary of the Office for Justice Peace and Development under the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India.
The Church official was reacting to the Supreme Court of India allowing passive euthanasia, stating that human beings have the right to die with dignity.
The March 9 order was passed by a five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan. The apex court’s order came on a plea by the NGO ‘Common Cause.’
However, the Supreme Court set out strict guidelines for the mercy killing.
The top court also allowed an individual to draft a living will specifying that they not be put on life support if they slip into an incurable coma in the future. In a ‘living will,, a person can state in advance that their life should not be prolonged by putting them on a ventilator or an artificial support system.
Although the judges gave four separate opinions, all of them were unanimous that a ‘living will’ should be allowed, because an individual should not be allowed to continue suffering in a vegetative state when they don’t wish to continue living.
Father Fernandes says the “Church rejects any proposal concerning active euthanasia as well as passive euthanasia.”
