Austin asked:Is it morally acceptable for a Catholic to have a Do Not Resuscitate order?Jimmy Akin replied:"The Catholic church recognizes that it is not necessary to undertake heroic measures to extend life. So if someone has naturally died, then you don’t have an obligation to resuscitate them. Maybe in some future day where we have magical technology that can ... you just flip a switch and they’re fine again, ok. Maybe then, but we’re not there."Mark's take:At what point do we consider someone to be dead? Is that measure by brain activity? I’ll update this if I find out.Copyrights:Catholic Answers, "Open Forum" (San Diego: Catholic Answers, 2013)Editor's note: This is an excerpt of the answer provided. For the complete response download the podcast. |  Click icon for archived podcast answering this question in its entirety. Show air date: October 10, 2013 Name of show: Open Forum Guest comments by: Jimmy Akin Question appeared in show: 21:02 |
