(LifeSiteNews) — On this episode of The John Henry Westen Show, Bishop Joseph Strickland joins me to discuss Margo Naranjo, the sanctity of life, compassion for families of those on life support, and more.
Margo Naranjo is a young woman from Texas who suffered severe brain injuries following a terrible car accident in 2020. She has since relied on life-sustaining artificial nutrition and hydration, but in a since-deleted video posted on Facebook last week, her mother, Cathy, announced they intended to take her off life support.
I asked Bishop Strickland to explain the problem with withdrawing nutrition and hydration according to Catholic teaching. I noted that Margo’s family is Catholic but appears confused about the Church’s teachings.
Strickland first wanted to address accusations of Catholics not caring about the families involved in life support situations when discussing the sanctity of life. “Let us be very clear that our hearts go out in compassion to the parents, to the caregivers, to everyone involved in this situation and countless situations like it,” he said. “It’s a tremendous burden to care for these people, but it’s also a joyful burden.”
Getting into the Church’s teaching, Strickland underscored that it’s in many ways common sense but also refined through the revelation of what God has told us. “[God is] the author of life, and that’s the bottom line for respect that we always have to remember. We didn’t start this life, and we should only with great trepidation approach ending life.”
He noted that medicine might be complex, but the Church’s teaching is not that complex. “It says extraordinary means of sustaining life [are] not morally required, but ordinary means are always required for life to be held sacred. Food and water are not extraordinary.”
READ: Love them all: Margo Naranjo’s parents also need our support to continue her care
Strickland answered the common objection that God didn’t make feeding tubes and other technologies that keep Margo and similar patients alive.
“We may be using technology to provide food and water for someone who can’t swallow. I don’t know all the intricacies there, but we don’t need to know the intricacies,” the bishop said. “We just know that having food and water, and you could say air, being able to breathe, being able to nurture ourselves with food, being able to have water to hydrate our bodies, that’s basic, [those are] ordinary means.”
Strickland noted that Margo’s parents have done a valiant job of caring for her. “We can understand that they’re probably exhausted, but her life isn’t exhausted. God hasn’t chosen to take Margo, so to stop feeding her and stop giving her hydration is not morally possible. It’s not acceptable. As it wouldn’t be for a newborn infant or for a 99-year-old elderly person.” He also compared the situation to animals, pointing out that all domesticated and wild animals need these basics, and as creatures, we need to have those basics as well.
The bishop added that the Naranjo family needs material help and moral support, perhaps having someone there to help them to have some downtime. “We probably need to develop care systems in our parishes and in our Catholic community to recognize that need. The needs can be overwhelming, but God’s abundant gifts in giving us life are beyond overwhelming, and so we have to keep that treasure and nurture that treasure in every way we can.”
I agreed with this idea and compared it to the development of crisis pregnancy centers and homes for children who aren’t wanted, adding that perhaps a ministry should be developed so families like the Naranjos could get relief from the pro-life community.
Later in the episode, I brought up another very disturbing aspect of this story, namely the fact that we’re talking about starving someone to death. I cited the example of Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo.
READ: Margo Naranjo’s father announces social media accounts will now be made private
Schindler and his family were under guard when they went in. Even though Schiavo’s lips were cracking and she was dying of starvation, they could not put ice cubes on her lips. You could tell she looked like someone at Auschwitz, and Schindler can’t even speak about it now without crying, without going through that trauma of having to watch this forced starvation of this own sister. I added that even if we completely threw out Church teaching and were just humanistic people who wanted to end a person’s life, why not do it quickly? Why are we starving them to death?
Strickland agreed, using the example of starving animals to death to illustrate this point. “If it was found out that you had this horse in your pasture that you’re feeding or watering, that you’re starving to death, that person would be taken into custody; they would be at least accused of a crime. And that’s a horse or a dog or a cat, and I think those laws should be in place; cruelty to animals is a desecration as well of God’s creation. But when it comes to human beings, it’s of course on a whole different level.”
Watch or listen to my full interview with Bishop Strickland to hear more about the Margo Naranjo case, the sanctity of life, compassion for families, and more.
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