If the ineffective or burdensome therapy could be removed without the ensuing death of mom and dad, then loving children would remove the therapy in a manner which would prolong life. But given the realities of life, when removing life support becomes ethically necessary, the death of the loved one usually follows as an act of nature. It is not desired or intended by the people removing the life support. Conclusion Four questions summarize the ethical process which should be followed when removing life support. The ethical process described above is based upon a vision of human life as a quest for goods which fulfill the innate and acquired needs of the person.
Human life is a dynamic process of fulfilling interrelated needs through the pursuit of goods.
The purpose of medical therapy is to enable a person to fulfill needs by pursuing goods. Often medical therapy accomplishes this goal. But when medical therapy does not enable a person with a fatal pathology to pursue the goods of life, or makes this pursuit too burdensome, then the medical therapy may be withheld or withdrawn, even though death would result.