20120312 We respect life from conception to natural end 我們尊重生命之恩
In the last article we looked at the Fifth Commandment and our duties to take proper care of the soul and the body. In this article we will look at some moral issues regarding the protection of human life.
Human life is especially vulnerable at its beginning and at its end, so many moral issues have to do with the beginning and the end of life. It is very important for us to remember that only God is the master and author of life; He alone has the right to give and to take life.
Beginning of life
An important moral issue related to the beginning of life is the evil of abortion.
According to writer Father John Hardon, SJ, “Abortion is the direct expelling from the mother’s womb of a living fetus that cannot live outside the womb even with the most extraordinary medical care. The Church has always held that abortion, as the deliberate killing of an unborn child, at any time after conception, is a grave sin.”
The Second Vatican Council called abortion an “unspeakable crime.”
So-called “indirect abortion” is the foreseen but unintended loss of a baby after a medical procedure necessary to preserve the life or health of the mother. The baby is in no way directly attacked, and the loss of fetal life is a secondary and unintended consequence, hence it is not sinful.
Human life is sacred, and God intends that the proper moment for the beginning of human life is in the context of the marital act, when husband and wife renew their marriage commitment to each other.
Any manipulation of human life outside the marital act is gravely sinful. Such manipulation includes cloning, in-vitro fertilization, surrogate motherhood, and artificial insemination.
The Church teaches that “what is technically possible is not for that very reason morally admissible.”
The Church cannot approve conception of a child outside the setting of conjugal act, nevertheless, “every child which comes into the world must in any case be accepted as a living gift of the divine Goodness and must be brought up with love” (Donum Vitae).
End of life
An important moral issue regarding the end of life is the evil of euthanasia. According to the document Evangelium Vitae, euthanasia is “an action or omission which of itself and by intention causes death, with the purpose of eliminating all suffering.”
Euthanasia is never permissible, because it is always either wilful murder or suicide. Life is a precious gift from God, and He alone has the right to take life.
We do not judge whether a life is too burdensome to live or not, but we can judge whether a treatment is too burdensome to undertake or not. Hence there is the traditional distinction of ordinary (proportionate) and extraordinary (disproportionate) means to preserve human life.
According to Father Hardon, “The ordinary means to preserve life are proper food, sleep, clothing, and shelter; they also include such medical care as society can readily provide.” An example of ordinary treatment is giving artificial nutrition and hydration to a persistently unconscious person.
Extraordinary means are “those that cannot be obtained or used without extreme difficulty in terms of pain, expense, or other burdening factors.”
We are morally obliged to use ordinary means but usually extraordinary means are optional.
Readers are encouraged to enhance knowledge on moral issues by reading the Church’s documents such as Evangelium Vitae and Donum Vitae. An excellent book which gives answers to moral questions asked by common people is Life, Death, and Catholic Medical Choices (50 Questions from the Pews) published by Liguori Publications.
上次我們談及「天主十誡」中的第五誡「毋殺人」，命令我們要適當地照顧自己和別人的靈魂與身體；今次，我們探索有關保護人類生命的道德話題。
人類生命處於始與終之際，顯出特別脆弱，故此，很多道德規範的湧現，為的是要保護每個人這重要時刻。為首，我們要緊記，天主才是生命的創造者和主宰，亦只有祂才有掌管生死的大權 —— 決定生命的賜予或終結。
生命的開端
「墮胎」是傷害生命開端的惡魔。耶穌會會士若望.赫頓神父認定，「墮胎」是把已受孕成胎的生命，強行拖離母胎，而我們都清楚，這些生命一旦離開母胎，絕對不能存活，任何先進科技或醫術，都不能挽救這些生命。教會一向聲明，「墮胎」等同謀殺成孕了的小生命，是罪大惡極的行為。梵蒂岡第二次大公會議更稱「墮胎」為「不堪言喻的惡行」。
「非直接墮胎」卻又作別論。一些為挽救母親性命的醫療過程，其副作用可能是胎兒的死亡；在有必要的情況下，這些療程可以接受；因為這並非蓄意除去胎中生命，也沒有直接侵害小生命的行為。所以，這不搆成罪行。
人類生命是神聖的，天主只願人類生命來自合法的婚姻夫婦自然關係，離開這種關係的後代自然繁衍，均屬罪惡；包括複製生命、試管嬰兒、代孕母胎、人工受孕。
教會澄清：「科技做得到的，並不等於合乎道德。」教會絕對不能認同在夫婦婚姻自然關係以外孕育生命。另一方面，一個生命不論是怎樣開始，天主都會從虛無中直接創造一個靈魂；因此所有誕生在世的孩童，都應被視為天主的恩賜，並應以愛來培育。
生命的終結
「安樂死」是其中一樣抵觸道德、嚴重傷害生命的行為。「安樂死」是以直接行為或剝奪的方法來促成死亡以終止苦痛。
「安樂死」是屬於「他殺」或「自殺」，絕不能允許。生命是天主寶貴的恩賜，亦只有祂才有權主宰生命的始與終，我們無權斷定一個生命太沉重而不值得活下去；我們只可以判斷一個療程或一個維持生命的方法太沉重而不值得使用。由此，在為了維持生命，必要作出選擇時，我們在傳統上，有「一般（正比）」方法，及「非一般（非正比）」方法的界別。
若望.赫頓神父解釋：「一般（正比）」維持生命的方法，當然包括飲食、眠息、衣著、住宿和社會能容易提供的醫療保健。其中一個例子是為長期昏迷的病人管輸飲食。
「非一般（非正比）」維持生命的方法，是指那些方法，在得到或使用時需要極大的困難；這些困難可包括痛楚、經濟、或別的負擔。
在倫理道德上，以「一般（正比）」的方法去維持生命是必需的，而「非一般（非正比）」的方法，則按實際情況作出抉擇。
為了更詳盡的理解有關生命的倫理問題，讀者可查閱教會的「生命福音宣言」和「生命恩賜宣言」，而一本有關「天主教對生死的醫療抉擇（五十題）問答」的英文書，很值得參攷。