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Summary
- Catholic, Orthodox and many Protestant churches teach that a patient may stop a treatment whose burdens outweigh its benefits, such as dialysis, and that doing so is not suicide.
- The Catholic Catechism allows discontinuing “burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate” procedures but forbids interrupting ordinary care (CCC 2278–2279).
- The Orthodox Church in America does not oppose removing life support that brings no demonstrable benefit when that is the patient’s wish, but it rejects euthanasia.
- Lutheran, Southern Baptist, United Methodist and Seventh-day Adventist statements or spokesmen distinguish allowing death from causing it.
- The National Kidney Foundation says patients have the right to stop dialysis; people who stop may live from one to several weeks, and death from kidney failure is usually painless.
- The Bible does not mention dialysis; it forbids murder (Exodus 20:13) and also records medical remedies used alongside prayer (2 Kings 20:1–7).
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Genesis 1:27; Exodus 20:13; 2 Kings 20:1–7; Ecclesiastes 3:2; Romans 14:8; Philippians 1:13, 21–24; James 5:14. https://www.esv.org/
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2277–2279. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7Z.HTM
- Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on Euthanasia (5 May 1980). https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19800505_euthanasia_en.html
- Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church in America, “Synodal Affirmations on Marriage, Family, Sexuality, and the Sanctity of Life” (Miami, July 1992). https://www.oca.org/holy-synod/statements/holy-synod/synodal-affirmations-on-marriage-family-sexuality-and-the-sanctity-of-life
- Orthodox Church in America, “Medical Bioethics: An Orthodox Christian Perspective for Orthodox Christians,” Parish Ministry Resources. https://www.oca.org/parish-ministry/familylife/medical-bioethics-an-orthodox-christian-perspective-for-orthodox-christians
- Pew Research Center, “Religious Groups’ Views on End-of-Life Issues” (21 November 2013), sections on the ELCA, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Seventh-day Adventist Church, Southern Baptist Convention, United Church of Christ and United Methodist Church. https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2013/11/21/religious-groups-views-on-end-of-life-issues/
- “Commending Life’s End to God: The ELCA Message on ‘End-of-Life Decisions’ After Two Decades,” Journal of Lutheran Ethics, quoting the ELCA message “End-of-Life Decisions” (1992). https://learn.elca.org/jle/commending-lifes-end-to-god-the-elca-message-on-end-of-life-decisions-after-two-decades/
- Southern Baptist Convention, “Resolution on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide” (Indianapolis, 1992). https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/resolution-on-euthanasia-and-assisted-suicide/
- National Kidney Foundation, “Dialysis: Deciding to Stop.” https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/dialysis-deciding-to-stop
- National Kidney Foundation, “Dialysis.” https://www.kidney.org/kidney-topics/dialysis
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