{"id":153421,"date":"2022-08-05T09:30:39","date_gmt":"2022-08-05T13:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-how-should-i-fill-out-an-advanced-health-care-directive\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T14:59:57","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T18:59:57","slug":"ask-a-priest-how-should-i-fill-out-an-advanced-health-care-directive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-how-should-i-fill-out-an-advanced-health-care-directive\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: How Should I Fill Out an Advanced Health Care Directive?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I am writing the Advanced Health Care Directive, and there are some questions that I do not know how to answer in order to be morally right. The questions are: 1) If I want my life to be prolonged or not; 2) If yes, to specify which life prolonging procedures are allowed to be performed: respirator, surgery and blood transfusions; 3) If I want or not want food and water to be administered. I appreciate your answer very much. Thank you. \u2013 J.C.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0While it is good that you are thinking about end-of-life issues, it might be better to think about a health-care proxy instead.<\/p>\n

A health-care proxy is an agent who makes decisions on your behalf when you become incapacitated. You should designate in writing who the health-care proxy will be.<\/p>\n

The problem with trying to answer those seemingly simple questions in the Advanced Health Care Directive is that they can’t foresee a particular situation that arises. Each medical case can be extremely complicated, so it’s virtually impossible to give a suitable one-size-fits-all answer.<\/p>\n

That is why having the proxy is preferable and recommended by the Church. The proxy can size up the medical situation with the help of various health-care workers and pastoral agents.<\/p>\n

The Church doesn’t require people to submit to disproportionate means to maintain life. For instance, one question asks about surgery. But what will it mean in practice?<\/p>\n

It’s one thing for a 88-year-old to undergo a minor procedure; it’s quite another to undergo a heart and liver transplant. From a moral viewpoint, the first case would be justifiable, but probably not the second case.<\/p>\n

The Catechism in No. 2278 says: \u201cDiscontinuing medical procedures that are burdensome, dangerous, extraordinary, or disproportionate to the expected outcome can be legitimate; it is the refusal of \u2018over-zealous\u2019 treatment. Here one does not will to cause death; one’s inability to impede it is merely accepted. The decisions should be made by the patient if he is competent and able or, if not, by those legally entitled to act for the patient, whose reasonable will and legitimate interests must always be respected.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given that it’s impossible to foresee every contingency, it might be better to choose a person who can make decisions if you become incapacitated.<\/p>\n

You could speak with this person and let him or her know your general desire and your wish to adhere to Church teaching. You could ask this person, if need be, to consult with a Catholic chaplain and\/or ethicist.<\/p>\n

You could find out more about a proxy statement at the National Catholic Bioethics Center site, https:\/\/www.ncbcenter.org\/endoflifeforms-english<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I hope some of this helps. Count on my prayers.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type your question HERE<\/a>,\u00a0and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153421"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}