End of Life Games at Holy Redeemer!

Rev. Mark G. Swope, MDiv, MBE, 
Coordinator of the Ethics Program and Ethicist at Holy Redeemer Health System
Weekend Assistant at St. Martin of Tours/Philadelphia

Dear Father Swope,

As you are an archdiocesan priest coordinating "ethics" at Holy Redeemer, it is all the more scandalous that 
1) No Holy Redeemer OBGYN can be found on One More Soul's list of NFP only OBGYNs; 
2) Holy Redeemer has privileges for IVF specialists (i.e., Holy Redeemer's "Reproductive Endocrinologists and Obstetricians" are IVF specialists (Drs Arthur Castelbaum, Martin Freedman, Benjamin Gocial, and Jacqueline Gutmann of Reproductive Medicine Associates of Philadelphia)!; and
3) Holy Redeemer's Advance Directive form does NOT even bother to specify:

• Catholic teaching with regard to nutrition and hydration, and
• that health care services cannot honor non-specific directives to forego nutrition and hydration.

I am at a loss to understand why the Archdiocese would publish what initially appeared to only be a fluff piece, Holy Redeemer Hospice hosts end-of-life discussions (CatholicPhilly.com, 4/28/14).  That article comes with what appear to be unvetted links to the National Healthcare Decisions Day (NHDD) and the My Gift of Grace card game!  I urge you to read Judie Brown's Advance Directives Are a Bad Idea (5/2/14), which includes a link to the "American Life League’s loving will, a truly pro-life alternative to the living will."

Sincerely,