We have now begun the season of Advent. In the midst of all of the secular preparations for the Christmas holiday, Advent calls us as people of faith to prepare once more to recall and enter into the Incarnation. In the stable at Bethlehem, Jesus was born after nine months in the womb of His mother Mary. In so doing, Jesus who was fully God showed also His complete sharing in our humanity.
Central to the Christmas story is the goodness of human life. Because Jesus was born into this world our human life is shared with His. As a result, we see clearly that human life is sacred.
The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, in its important declaration, Dignitas Infinita, issued this past April with the approval and at the direction of Pope Francis, reaffirmed what we know both by faith and by reason — “Every human person possesses an infinite dignity, inalienably grounded in his or her very being, which prevails in and beyond every circumstance, state, or situation the person may ever encounter. This principle, which is fully recognizable even by reason alone, underlies the primacy of the human person and the protection of human rights” (DI, N. 1).
The Advent and Christmas celebrations of the gift of human life take on an added importance in our own day. There are many voices and forces in our society which seek to pass laws and establish policies which undermine respect for life.
One such threat is the continuing advance, in our own country and abroad, of laws permitting the practice of assisted suicide. Just last week, Members of Parliament in the British House of Commons voted in favor of a law legalizing assisted suicide. Canada has allowed assisted suicide since 2016. And voices are now being heard calling for the State of Illinois to make it legal as well.
There are many reasons why assisted suicide should be opposed. When suffering strikes and sickness or old age has brought one close to death, we are called in human love and solidarity not to allow the suffering person to die alone or in pain. As Pope Francis has stated, “We must be grateful for all the help that medicine is striving to give, so that through so-called “palliative care,” every person who is preparing to live the last stretch of their life can do so in the most humane way possible. However, we … must accompany people towards death, but not provoke death or facilitate any form of suicide” (Wednesday Audience, Feb. 9, 2022).
Laws which pass from accompanying the suffering to facilitating their suicide infringe upon the dignity which the suffering person possesses. When that happens, societies’ very respect for life is diminished. Pressures are created to see life as valuable only when one is judged to be valuable or contributing.
When assisted suicide is legalized, pressures are felt by the suffering to end their life. Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster recently wrote in a pastoral letter, “Once assisted suicide is approved by the law, a key protection of human life falls away. Pressure mounts on those who are nearing death, from others or even from themselves, to end their life in order to take away a perceived burden of care from their family, for the avoidance of pain, or for the sake of an inheritance.”
Cardinal Nichols also observes that invariably laws legalizing assisted suicide are introduced with limitations for whom they are intended. But those boundaries are quickly expanded, widening the application for the taking of life. He writes, “the evidence from every single country in which such a law has been passed is clear: that the circumstances in which the taking of a life is permitted are widened and widened, making assisted suicide and medical killing, or euthanasia, more and more available and accepted. In this country, assurances will be given that the proposed safeguards are firm and reliable. Rarely has this been the case.”
This time of year, for good reason, reminds us of the goodness and the holiness of the gift of life. We need to witness to the value of human life, especially at the end. We are called to offer comfort and solidarity even in the final sufferings of others. I urge that our legislators and governor know how much we treasure these values so that assisted suicide will not be approved in Illinois.
