‘Death with dignity’ does not accrue from narcotics

On Thursday, August 1, a pall was cast over the state of New Jersey as Governor Phil Murphy signed “Death with dignity” legislation into law. This made physician-assisted suicide legal. Should one who is “terminal,” (with six months or less to live) get the okay from a psychologist, who will assure that the person is of sound mind and right judgment, he or she can then request from a physician, a prescription of a death-inducing drug. Advocates for the law believe that those who are suffering from a terminal illness or condition can then choose when they end their lives “with dignity.”  
      Has anyone taken the time to learn what the Church teaches about human suffering? Several popes have written extensively on the subject. Suffering is never absurd. When joined to the suffering of Christ on the Cross, it is vicarious. It can be applied to assist the souls in purgatory who cannot aid themselves. It can benefit others suffering here on earth by reducing their physical suffering or by giving them spiritual solace. It is a redemptive suffering inasmuch as offering it for others is not only a gift but ultimately helps them to attain beatitude with God.
While Catholics are instructed that all life is sacred from conception to natural death, and that only God can choose the time and place when someone dies, we, Catholics, are also taught that death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. Death is not the end of human life but a passageway to a new and better existence where there will be no more tears, no more suffering, no more goodbyes. Described in Scripture as the life of glory, marked by peace, joy and perpetual rest in the presence of God, this existence is the ultimate goal for all humankind.
Sadly, there are too many of us, Catholics, who are swayed by the allurement of an expedient death. The notion that we can choose the day when we are to die, should we be diagnosed as “terminal” and are still in possession of our faculties, empowers us to play God with our own lives.  
Will future “death with dignity” legislation widen the arena of those who can request physician assisted suicide? Case in point, families who have a loved one diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease or any form of irreversible dementia? Some families will argue that such individuals have lost their human dignity because of the inability to speak, understand language or recognize others from their circle of family and friends. Others will say Alzheimer’s has killed the mind of their loved one while just the mechanics of the body keep that person physically alive. They will ask: “Is this a life?”
Will future legislation include those with disabilities, such as a paralyzed person who is on a ventilator for the remainder of life? Or how about the child with Cerebral Palsy? Or an adult with MS or ALS? Seemingly futile medical interventions may promise to extend the lifespan but not the quality of that life. Some will ask: “What about the economic burden which the beneficiaries inherit?  
So what is the answer?  We must never condone physician-assisted suicide any more than we condone abortion. They are both morally wrong. We must support our loved ones who are labeled “terminally ill.” We must assure them that they are never a burden to us. The so-called “quality of life” argument is a moot point when we consider the redemptive value of vicarious suffering. We must keep our disabled or sick loved ones as comfortable as we can. Finally, we must remind them that every day spent in their presence, despite the pain of suffering, means extra time with them, time we can never get back after God calls them home.  
Death with dignity does not accrue from narcotics. It comes from love and the knowledge that every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. This dignity is perpetual despite whatever battles we wage on this side of heaven.
Father Comandini is managing editor of “The Catholic Spirit”