1. A Consistent Ethic of Life
THE SEAMLESS GARMENT
A Consistent Ethic of Life

2. “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four shares, a share for each soldier. They also took his tunic, but the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top down. So they said to one another, ‘Let’s not tear it…’” (John 19:23-24a)

3. JOURNAL QUESTION:
What new insights have you gained from our study of Euthanasia? Has your understanding of this issue changed through the course of our study? How?

4. STAYIN’ ALIVE… EXTRAORDINARY MEANS ORDINARY MEANS:
Interventions that are often experimental that prolong life
DISPROPORTIONATE MEANS:
Means that don’t offer a reasonable hope of benefit or that create an excessive burden
ORDINARY MEANS:
Standard medical interventions (See JP II’s list of these)
PROPORTIONATE MEANS:
Means that offer a reasonable hope for benefit without an excessive burden

5. Declaration on Euthanasia
“In such situations, when death is clearly imminent and inevitable, one can in [good] conscience ‘refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted.” (#65)

6. ADDITIONAL TERMINOLOGY
ASSISSTED SUICIDE:
When medical personnel prescribe a deadly amount of medication with the intent to help the person commit suicide.
PVS:
Persistent Vegetative State
A condition in which a person loses the higher cerebral powers of the brain but still maintains activity in the brain stem

7. Evangelium Vitae
“Even when not motivated by a selfish refusal to be burdened with the life of someone who is suffering, euthanasia must be called a false mercy, and indeed a disturbing perversion of mercy. True compassion leads to sharing another’s pain; it does not kill the person whose suffering WE cannot bear.” (#66)

8. Questions to Consider:
Are we prolonging someone’s life or prolonging someone’s death?
Are we considering OUR needs to avoid suffering or THEIRS?
What is an ordinary medical treatment for a person in a given situation?

9. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
When he was first ordained, he was the youngest bishop in America (age 38)
Was the first General Secretary of the USCCB
Was head of the USCCB committee on War and Peace
Established an AIDS task force in 1985
Was the head of the Committee for Pro-Life Activities of the USCCB
Died in 1996

10. Joseph Cardinal Bernardin
Those who defend the right to life of the weakest among us must be equally visible in support of the quality of life of the powerless among us: the old and the young, the hungry and the homeless, the undocumented immigrant and the unemployed worker.
Such a quality of life posture translates into specific political and economic positions on tax policy, employment generation, welfare policy, nutrition and feeding programs, and health care.

11. THE “SEAMLESS GARMENT”
ABORTION
EUTHANASIA
CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT
REPRODUCTIVE
TECHNOLOGY
POVERTY
CONSISTENT
ETHIC
OF LIFE

12. HOMEWORK: Your homework due tomorrow is the following:
For your Homework Check #8, you will research FIVE accurate facts about your topic for your presentation. These could be definitions of terms related to your topic or numbers, statistics, cases, etc. that are all related to your Group Presentation topics.
You will type up all of these facts and then at the bottom of the sheet you will include a list of all of the sources you went to in order to find these facts.