"The whole system is greased to pay hospitals and others for expensive things people might not even want” at the end of life, says Dr. Lachlan Forrow, director of ethics and palliative care at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital.

“It’s impossible not to ration, it’s irrational not to ration, and it’s unethical not to ration” medical care at the end of life, says this Harvard Medical School ethics professor.

The Republican Party made significant gains with Catholic voters as well as white Protestants. Did the Democrats give up on religious outreach?

"You cannot understand caregiving unless you do it," says Arthur Kleinman. "Acts of caregiving come as close to what I think religion is as I could name."

Senate Democrats invited religion reporters to Capitol Hill on July 28 to talk about outreach to communities of faith, the role of values in governing, and religious involvement in domestic and foreign policy issues.

Watch more of our conversation on the Catholic Church, sexual abuse, divisions over health care reform, and questions about the church's moral authority.

"I want to just go peacefully. The only medications I want are going to be the ones that would comfort me. That’s all I want," says Jill Steuer, a nurse with advanced-stage breast cancer who has decided to stop any kind of treatment and receive hospice care.

Join our discussion of the most anticipated religion and ethics news stories in the year to come.

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly's Kim Lawton highlights some of the key religion news stories from the past year in this special annual feature.

Watch Cardinal Francis George, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Jon O’Brien, president of Catholics for Choice, discuss abortion and health care reform.