End-of-Life Options: Tube Feeding


Is it ever acceptable to forgo life-sustaining treatment?	Southern Baptist Convention
Probably. There are no official position statements issued by the Southern Baptist Convention on this issue. According Simmons (2003: 18), however, believing in the afterlife "serves to mitigate efforts to prolong the dying process. Aggressive end-of-life measures may be seen as contradictory to the desirability of death under circumstances of intractable pain and incurable illness. Refusing treatment or withdrawing aggressive care would be acceptable on religious and moral grounds. Quality-of-life considerations can also figure prominently in Baptist patient preferences."

Is it ever acceptable to forgo artificial nutrition and hydration?
Maybe. "Although withdrawing medical treatment from dying patients is morally acceptable to most Southern Baptists, the Trustees of the Christian Life Commission (CLC) have attempted to draw the line at artificial nutrition and hydration, by directing staff to consider the provision of nutrition and hydration by medical means to be compassionate and ordinary care" (see "On Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide" 1992). At the same time, the declarations of organizations within the Southern Baptist Convention are not biding on individual conscience (Simmons 2003: 18).

Citations
"On Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide." (1992). Resolution 13. Annual of Southern Baptist Convention. Nashville: SBC Executive Committee. Simmons, Paul D. 2003. "Religious Beliefs and Healthcare Decision: The Southern Baptist Tradition" in Religious Traditions and Healthcare Decisions. Chicago: Park Ridge Center.