# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2019_S540
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

540

CHURCH AND CULTURE

Ov. 11-04

To Oppose Physician-Assisted Suicide
WHEREAS, Satan’s original and continuing temptation invites us
to worship at the altar of personal autonomy rather than
acknowledge that we have been “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–
20) and that “we are not our own”; and
WHEREAS, In popular culture death is often portrayed as our
friend and a means to escape from the sufferings of life, rather than
our greatest enemy to be resisted (Is. 7:15; Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:26,
55–57); and
WHEREAS, The theology of the cross reveals suffering to be a
means by which God can bring blessing; therefore suffering is not
meaningless or something to be avoided at all costs (Rom. 8:28; 2
Cor. 12:9; Heb. 12:5–10; James 1:2–4; 2 Cor. 1:3–4; Matt. 25:40);
and
WHEREAS, Advocates for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)
often improperly exploit people’s fear of suffering; and
WHEREAS, The underlying logic of PAS denies the inherent,
God-given dignity of all human beings regardless of age, physical
condition, mental capacity, or any other life circumstance; and
WHEREAS, PAS carries with it inherent opportunities to abuse the
elderly and disabled, from which no safeguards can offer any real
protection; where the right to die by means of PAS easily becomes
felt by the elderly and disabled as the duty to die; and
WHEREAS, Those who advocate for the legalization of PAS often
misrepresent the primary motive for seeking PAS as the experience
of intense and unremitting pain when, in fact, it is most often
feelings of intense loneliness or the perception of being an
unwelcome burden on others that are their actual primary motive;
and
WHEREAS, The legality of PAS will fundamentally alter the trust
relationship between doctors and their patients and will require
doctors to engage in a legal deception as to the actual cause of death
on the death certificate; and
WHEREAS, PAS introduces a whole host of obvious perverse
financial incentives as insurance companies, financial heirs,
government entities, and others are tempted by financial selfinterest to pressure patients into considering PAS; and
WHEREAS, There is typically no requirement for family members
to be informed when a loved one is requesting PAS, there are many
subsequent feelings of intense guilt and regret experienced by
family members; and
WHEREAS, Studies have shown that the legalization of PAS has
the effect of normalizing suicide and thus increasing the rate of nonPAS in the community; and
WHEREAS, We are called to love our neighbors by protecting
their physical well-being; and
WHEREAS, We are called to “shine as lights amidst this crooked
and twisted generation” by “holding fast to the word of life” (Phil.
2:15); therefore be it
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
declares its clear opposition to PAS and any legislative efforts on
state or federal level to legalize it; and be it further
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
encourages the congregations of the district to make a concerted
effort to educate their members about the issue of PAS; and be it
further
2019 Convention Workbook

Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
encourages its congregations to become more intentional in
reaching out to members and non-members who find themselves in
difficult life circumstances that have led others in the past to
consider PAS; and be it further
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
encourages both individual members and the institutional church
(via its public policy efforts) to be politically active in opposing
PAS; and be it finally
Resolved, That the Minnesota South District in convention
memorializes the Synod meeting in convention to adopt this
resolution (less items specific to the state of Minnesota).
Minnesota South District
Ov. 11-05

To Oppose Physician-Assisted Suicide and to
Support Enhanced Palliative Care
WHEREAS, Satan’s original and continuing temptation invites us
to “worship at the altar of personal autonomy” rather than
acknowledge that we have been “bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:19–
20) and that “we are not our own”; and
WHEREAS, In popular culture death is often portrayed as “our
friend” and a means to escape from the sufferings of life rather than
our greatest enemy to be resisted (Rom. 6:23; 1 Cor. 15:26, 55–57);
and
WHEREAS, The theology of the cross reveals suffering to be a
means by which God can bring blessing and not as something
meaningless “to be avoided at all costs” (Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 12:9;
Heb. 12:5–10; James 1:2–4; 2 Cor. 1:3–4); and
WHEREAS, Advocates for physician-assisted suicide (PAS) often
improperly exploit people’s fear of suffering; and
WHEREAS, The underlying logic of PAS denies the inherent,
God-given dignity of all human beings regardless of age, physical
condition, mental capacity or any other life circumstance; and
WHEREAS, PAS carries with it inherent opportunities to abuse the
elderly and disabled, from which no “safeguards” can offer any real
protection; and where the “right to die” by means of PAS easily
becomes felt by the elderly and disabled as “the duty to die”; and
WHEREAS, Those who advocate for the legalization of PAS often
misrepresent the primary motive for seeking PAS as the experience
of intense and unremitting pain when, in fact, it is most often
feelings of intense loneliness or the perception of being an
unwelcome burden on others that are their actual primary motive;
and
WHEREAS, The legality of PAS will fundamentally alter the trust
relationship between doctors and their patients and will require
doctors to engage in a legal deception as to the actual cause of death
on the death certificate; and
WHEREAS, PAS introduces a whole host of obvious perverse
financial incentives as insurance companies, financial heirs,
government entities, and others are tempted by financial selfinterest to pressure patients into considering PAS; and
WHEREAS, There is typically no requirement for family members
to be informed when a loved one is requesting PAS, there are many
subsequent feelings of intense guilt and regret experienced by
family members; and