Editor's note: The subject of Death with Dignity as debated as a policy of Olympic Medical Center is too complex - and its arguments, too closely held - for a single opinion to prevail on the Sequim Gazette's Opinion pages.

On June 3 - the same day OMC commissioners voted to allow Death with Dignity discussions up to the point of "the final act" on OMC premises - Gazette editor Jim Casey wrote in his Northwest Passage column that an individual's choice should prevail in a Death with Dignity decision.

After the commission meeting, the Gazette solicited the viewpoint of the Rev. Thomas Nathe, pastor of Queen of Angels Church, Port Angeles. Father Nathe, who had spoken against Death with Dignity at the June 3 meeting, deferred to Deacon Peter Flatley, who also had spoken in opposition to permitting assisted suicide discussions at OMC.

Flatley's guest opinion follows.



No one wants to die unless they are really hurting. Remove the pain, and their love for life returns.

Indeed, this love for life is so strong that philosophers considered it a sign for the soul's existence. In the past, our culture's value of human life prohibited its ending by suicide. Now however, many question any interference with another's decision to seek medical assistance to commit suicide. Reflecting this opinion, Washington voters passed the Death with Dignity Act (DWDA).

But regardless of its legality or how many voted for it, the act of suicide itself is always wrong.

The natural value of life is pre-eminent. It is the first right, and from this right all other rights exist. Life's value is so great that, even apart from faith-based convictions, there is a strong moral obligation to defend each person's life and to prevent its unnatural termination.

We have life not from our own willing it but because we have received it from others. Life is not something we own exclusively and independently of others. We receive and are sustained in life in community with others.



Sustain, defend life

In a spirit of gratitude, we have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and to help others to do likewise. Defending life comes from this ingrained solidarity that moves us to support each other for the common good of society. Regardless of the different approaches to achieving it, supporting the common good is an obligation we owe one another.

Legitimate civil laws help us recognize the fundamental right to life for all human beings and to acknowledge the responsibilities we owe to each other. This is especially true for the most vulnerable in society who need our help, such as anyone whose suffering leads them to consider suicide.

I have had family members and friends who have taken their lives. Regardless of the reasons, their deaths were harder for the living to bear. There was something missing from the separation - a lack of closure and a deep-seated questioning.

What was missing was the opportunity for compassion.

People in pain need help. They need our compassion. Compassion means "to suffer with." For the compassionate person this means being with the one suffering and providing friendship and love in their loneliness. It means reassuring them in time of doubt. It means providing them relief from pain and easing their fears.

This compassion truly respects the dignity of the suffering person and maintains the dignity of the caregiver. That dignity is denied for one who commits suicide and the one who assists in suicide.



Bad law thrice over

DWDA is a bad law due to the natural value of life itself and the common good of society. Moreover, DWDA is a bad law from the perspective of traditional Christian morality.

The Catholic faith teaches that suicide or assisting in suicide is the taking of something that does not belong to us. We are not our "own." Our life is a gift from an all-loving God who has loved us right into existence - regardless of our circumstances of birth.

We owe God our lives. He has entrusted our lives to us, and we are stewards of that life. But we are not its master. In justice we cannot destroy what is not ours.

Moreover, in response to God's love we must love others as ourselves. This means we must have compassion for those who are suffering and support them to the natural end of their lives.

Any form of suicide offends against love of oneself, one's family, one's community and one's Creator. Because it is so harmful, the Church has strong moral prohibitions against suicide.

However, the church also understands that people in pain may act with poor judgment and therefore diminished responsibility. Thus, it teaches that "grave psychological disturbances, anguish, or grave fear of hardship, suffering, or torture can diminish the responsibility of the one committing suicide. We should not despair of the eternal salvation of persons who have taken their own lives. By ways known to him alone, God can provide the opportunity for salutary repentance. The church prays for persons who have taken their own lives." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 2283).

Finally, DWDA is a bad law because of what law itself is. In addition to providing protections and imposing obligations, the law also teaches. It helps us to learn what is good for each of us and for all of us.

Any form of suicide is contrary to what is naturally good and truly dignified for human beings. It is contrary to the traditional teachings of Christianity and it harms those associated with the life that is taken.

A law that is bad for people is a bad law. The Death with Dignity Act is such a law. It is a bad law and a horrid teacher.

Deacon Peter Flatley was ordained in 2007 and is a minister at Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Port Angeles. Living in Carlsborg, he is a retired Marine with a master's degree in management and is completing work on a master's degree in theology.