Jack,

It would depend on what the treatment is. The Church makes the distinction between ordinary and extraordinary means of care, sometimes now called proportionate or disproportionate means. Several factors are taken into consideration when evaluating this, and it is not an exact science.

The National Catholic Bioethics Center is a good place to seek out specific answers to specific questions related to proportionate care and

What is morally obligatory versus What is morally optional.

Here is their web site:

• The National Catholic Bioethics Center

Paul

Jack,

I would add that the disproportion is between:

• the benefit
• the risks
• the burdens, and
• the (burdens considered) which can be:
  • physical
  • financial
  • psychological, or
  • other related burdens.

The one absolute not allowed is to forego treatment because one would rather die than suffer cancer.

Finally, the ultimate decision is yours, and you must get good information and be willing to practice a degree of patience and fortitude. However, what is intolerable to you (as, for instance, in the old days, amputation without anesthetic) is not mandated.

Mary Ann