End of Life Issues

Edmonton Prolife promotes respect for all human life from conception to natural death. At one time or another in our life, all of us will have to face death, either our own, or the death of a loved one. Anyone who has been in this situation knows how difficult it is to deal with this time. Here are some resources to assist you in making life-affirming decisions in end-of-life situations.

Personal Directives/Health Care Power of Attorney
Hydration and Nutrition
Obligation to Receive Treatment?
Palliative Care and Pain Control
Death: Pro-Life Perspectives

Personal Directives/Health Care Power of Attorney

We all write our wills, but just as important to have is a personal health care directive/health care power of attorney, laying down the pro-life principles you believe in, and appointing a trusted family member or friend as having power of attorney in health care decisions, should you become unconscious or lose communication abilities. It's important to choose someone who shares your beliefs and value for this role. It's also important for the

A common confusion is that the person named as health care power of attorney must be the executor named in your will. Different people can fulfill the different roles, or the same person can fulfill both roles, whichever you want. The two things are not related.

Edmonton Prolife has an Alberta-compliant booklet with information and the " Life-Protecting Power of Attorney for Personal Care" form. The booklet was created by the Canadian organization, the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Call the office at (780) 425-1637 to get a copy of it.

Protecting Your Life in Today's Hospital is a description of the form and its importance.

Further Background Information:

Don't Wait To Make Your End-of-Life Wishes Known by John F. Kilner. An overview of personal directives and their importance

The How and Why of Preparing a Power of Attorney for Personal Care by Sally H. Burks. Specific to Canada.

Personal Directives: The Law in Alberta: From the Provincial Health Ethics Network

Hydration and Nutrition

In recent years, we've seen a number of cases where there have been disputes between doctors and patients' families over the hydration and nutrition of patients. In layman's terms, over whether to give water and food to patients. The Terri Schiavo case brought the public's attention to the dispute, but hydration and nutrition has been withheld in Canada in less extreme situations.

It's important to write in your personal directive that you do not want hydration and nutrition to be withheld. The form Edmonton Prolife has available covers this point. It's also good sense to appoint someone who agrees with your principles as your health attorney.

Hydration and Nutrition: A Basic Human Need, Not an Option of Medical Care by Carolyn F. Gerster, M.D.

Obligation to Receive Treatment?

People often question whether a pro-life person is obliged to undergo any possible treatment, or whether they can choose to forego treatment, even if that means they'll die more quickly.

The important distinction to make when judging any decision which might lead to death is whether that decision causes death, or whether it lets natural events take their course. A person taking poison is causing death. A person who decides not to undergo a treatment that is terribly painful and would just postpone death a bit longer, that person is not causing death, but letting death take its course.

End of Life Decisions: A Catholic Perspective quoting the Catechism and Church teachers. The moral reasoning may also be helpful to non-Catholics as well.

Palliative Care and Pain Control

Respect for the sanctity of life and opposition to Euthanasia does not mean that death should be as painful as possible. Modern medicine can alleviate pain to a remarkable degree, when doctors focus on the needs of the patient.

Palliative Care and Pain Control - What is it?

Making Every Day Count: Hospice Palliative Care in Canada - by Ellen Gardner

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association -The national association provides leadership in hospice palliative care in Canada.

Death: Pro-Life Perspectives

Gathered here are several pro-life personal perspectives on death and dying.

Still in the World: A Pro-Life View of Death and Dying - Joe Carter's reflections on his mother's death

Suffering Together - A Biblical reflection on death by Arthur J. Dyck

If I could save time in a bottle: As he holds his newborn granddaughter, the author knows his mother is approaching death - By Mark Pickup of Human Life Matters. A local story

See also our Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Resource Page for resources dealing with those issues.