Medical Heroics, The Prolongation Of Death And Traditional CatholicTeaching

"The Price of Medical Heroics"
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02712906#page-1

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Alan: The difference between "prolonging life" and "prolonging death" is now coming into view. 

Millions, probably tens of millions, of lives could be saved by investing the money spent on Terri Schiavo's persistently vegetative care and dedicating it to Third World vaccination campaigns.

Growing up Catholic in the 1950s and '60s, I remember when the Church, in her wisdom, taught there was no need to take heroic measures to prolong life. 

After all, this world was a Valley of Tears and departing it for the eternal bliss of Heaven was a consummation devoutly to be wished.

If contemporary Catholics still had the wisdom and faith of their forebears, they would not promote the prolongation of death under pretense of prolonging life. 

Lamentably, the clarity of traditional Catholic teaching got muddied when many Catholics, as part of their recent affiliation with Christian fundamentalism, joined the intense effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive. 

Terri Schiavo Case

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terri_Schiavo_case