The Texas Advance Directives Act: A Threat to Catholic Identity?

In the just-released issue (20(2): Spring 2012) of CHA's Health Care Ethics USA, Elliott Louis Bedford has a feature article titled "The Texas Advance Directives Act: A Threat to Catholic Identity?"  Here is his conclusion:




In conclusion, it seems that, with certain qualifications, Catholic hospitals should support laws that use the TADA as a model because, in the rare case that the process is actually implemented, it allows physicians to practice according to professional conscience and seeks the good of the patient by preventing the harmful prolongation of the dying process while avoiding euthanasia. Furthermore, evidence from those who have reviewed experiences of cases that invoked the process indicates that, in general, the law tends to improve the quality of the end-of-life care in the most difficult circumstances because it increases communication between staff and families. Specifically, it often provides relief to families struggling with the weight of the decision to remove LST from their loved one.




The general concern regarding the law’s compatibility with the ERDs highlights another important point: the TADA establishes minimums. Catholic hospitals can make internal policies regarding the implementation of the TADA that go beyond the minimums that the law establishes. For instance, a hospital might adopt a policy extending the waiting period or requiring a second opinion before the physician can submit the case to the review committee. Additionally, it could even revise the policy for the implementation of the TADA process to specify that it cannot be applied to a case in which the patient is merely receiving MANH. In fact, the law encourages developing just such a policy. While other means of resolving conflicts over medically inappropriate treatment are highly successful, used comparatively often, and should be explored before turning to legal means for resolution, laws like the TADA are, and should be, a last option that is nonetheless worthy of qualified support by Catholic hospitals.