They appear in basically the same form in many bioethical documents of the Catholic Church. However, they should not be immediately dismissed as something religious, requiring a specific religious faith in order to be accepted, or applicable only to Catholics.
Human life is the foundation for all other human goods, and so has special value and significance.
Yet it is possible, in certain circumstances, to intend certain things which may include, even as a foreseeable result , the shortening of someone's life. Suffering is a fact of human life, and of special significance for a Christian. Everyone has a duty to care for his or her own life and health and to seek necessary medical care from others. No one is obliged to prolong the life of a patient by every possible means in the final stage of dying. The dying person should accept the reality of death and prepare for it emotionally an spiritually.