Missionaries of the Sacred

Assisted suicide is one more example of our society’s strident emphasis on self-determination and freedom of choice. As with euthanasia, assisted suicide brings about death before its time. Unlike euthanasia, however, where the medial staff directly kills the patient, assisted suicide occurs when the physician assists the dying person to kill him/herself by providing the necessary lethal medication.

Suicide refers to the “direct killing of oneself on one’s own authority.”  Suicide is never morally permissible. It takes away the direct dominion and sovereignty of God over life and death. It is a violation of the love of God and self and “likewise offends love of neighbor because it unjustly breaks the ties of solidarity with family, nation and other human society to which we continue to have obligations.”  Suicide brings an end to God’s plan for each human being who is called by God to exercise responsible freedom and stewardship.