Religious Perspectives

Religious Beliefs and End-of-Life Care Decisions

Religious and spiritual beliefs often guide people in the decisions they make in life. This is equally if not more true for the decisions people make about end-of-life care.

As religions of the world address end-of-life care and Advance Healthcare Directives in accordance with their own teachings and practices, this page is designed to provide links to information on religious views and doctrines regarding end-of-life decisions.

Some religions have their own Advance Healthcare Directive forms. If you use a form provided by a religious organization, please consult with your religious and legal advisors to make sure that the form is tailored to satisfy legal requirements of the state in which you reside.

For more information on a particular religious perspective, click on a link below. If the religion you are interested in is not listed, please feel free to guide us to an authoritative source. You may contact us at webmaster@MyHealthDirective.com.

Baha`i
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha`is of the Hawaiian Islands
Guidelines from Baha`i Faith Hawaii (pdf)

Catholic
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
www.usccb.org/bishops/directives.htm

Evangelical Lutheran Church
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
www.elca.org/dcs/healthcare_statement.html

Islam
Islamic Medical Association of North America
Sample Living Will Declaration (pdf)

Judaism-Conservative
Rabbinical Assembly
www.rabbinicalassembly.org
Jewish Medical Directives for Healthcare (pdf)

Judaism-Reform
The Union of American Hebrew Congregations
www.uahc.org/conv/res/care.html

Lutheran Missouri Synod
Commission on Theology and Church Relations, Lutheran Church Missouri Synod
www.lcms.org/ctcr/docs/pdf/careend.pdf

Presbyterian
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Social Witness Policy Compilation,
Chapter 12, "Biomedical Ethics."
www.pcusa.org

United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church
www.umc.org