How should a Catholic hospice respond to patients who choose to voluntarily stop eating and drinking in order to hasten death?

The practice of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) in order to hasten death poses a unique problem for the Catholic hospice. Hospice staff may be confronted with patients already on their service who decide to pursue this option for ending their lives. Patients not on hospice service who are contemplating VSED are often advised to contact hospice for symptom palliation associated with the process of VSED. Intentionally hastening death not only violates the sanctity of human life and the Ethical and Religious Directives the Catholic hospice is bound to uphold, but it also runs counter to the general philosophy that hospice neither hastens nor postpones death. At the same time, hospice programs have a strong philosophy of nonabandonment of patients. This article will analyze the ethical issues from the perspective of the Catholic tradition and suggest strategies for the Catholic hospice to respond to this group of patients.