Living and Dying Well: A Catholic Plan for Resisting Physician-Assisted Killing

The complex, paradoxical relationship with death in the consumerist West is playing out in ways that are quite dramatic. Our culture is now at a tipping point when it comes to physician-assisted killing (PAK).

A Catholic understanding of what it means to die well -- and by extension, what it means to live well and what it means to help others to live and die well -- provides an essential way of resisting the existential threat to human dignity posed by PAK. As individuals and communities, we must work to create a counterculture of encounter and hospitality to resist the eugenic culture of death and the throwaway culture of consumerism.

Living and Dying Well builds on both Sacred Scripture and Tradition, diving into Jesus' paradigmatic example of how to die (and live) and the example of saints, monks, and Catholic healthcare providers. This book challenges all of us to live (and die) with these values and practices in mind -- as individuals, as families, and as broader Church communities and institutions.

This book includes general and practical reminders for the "last things," clinical red flags and options for responding to physician-assisted killing, and trustworthy Catholic resources for end-of-life care.