Kim Ok-kyung, Rest in Peace

The author of this article is wrong to suggest that "[t]he Catholic Church considers th[is] decision a sign of the 'degradation of human life'" — Seoul, doctors pull the plug on a woman in a coma. First case of "passive euthanasia". The author quotes "Lee Hoi-chang, a 74 year-old Korean Catholic politician, [who] spoke of 'ambiguities' in the judges decision, saying that 'the condition of terminally ill patients does not mean death' and 'dying with dignity' means only 'putting an end to human life' or, in other words, 'euthanasia.'"

With all due respect to Mr. Lee (for whom I instructed my wife to vote in the 2002 presidential election), that may well be true, but does not apply to the specifics of this case, which has been covered extensively on these pages — Kim Ok-kyung Is Not a Korean Terri Schiavo / Kim Ok-kyung and Catholic Teaching on Euthanasia / Korean Protestants on Euthanasia, and Catholic Teaching on the Same / An Update on the Korean "Euthanasia" Case / The Right Decision in Kim Ok-kyung's "Death With Dignity" Case. From the penultimate post:

According to local Catholic bioethics experts, the lower court's ruling is not contrary to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Father Remigio Lee Dong-ik explained to UCA News Dec. 3 that if a medical procedure falls short of expectations, stopping such a procedure "with a patient's consent" can be considered "an acceptance of the human condition," as noted in Declaration on Euthanasia, a document the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued on May 5, 1980.

Chapter IV of the Vatican document states: "When inevitable death is imminent in spite of the means used, it is permitted in conscience to take the decision to refuse forms of treatment that would only secure a precarious and burdensome prolongation of life, so long as the normal care due to the sick person in similar cases is not interrupted."

The Ordinary/Extraordinary Means distinction is all-important here; feeding is an ordinary means, and can neither be rejected nor denied, while artificial ventilation is an extraordinary means, and its withdrawal must be judged on a case by case basis.

The hospital in the case, Severance Hospital, a Protestant facility founded by American missionaries more than a century ago, originally rejected the family's appeal to remove the woman's respirator, but did so yesterday after a long legal fight. This article describes what happened yesterday — Scenes From Korea`s 1st Official Case of Euthansia. May God rest the soul of Kim Ok-kyung.