‘There is a Time to be Born and a Time to Die’ (Ecclesiastes 3:2a): Jewish Perspectives on Euthanasia

Baeke, Goedele; Wils, Jean-Pierre; Broeckaert, Bert

doi:10.1007/s10943-011-9465-9

Cited by 22 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Indeed, in different religious branches of Judaism, a dominant cautious attitude towards quality of life judgements (Schostak 1991, Mackler 2003, p. 108, Zohar 2006 2) is found and religious Jewish voices in favour of active termination of life are rather exceptional (Gesundheit et al 2006, Baeke et al 2011. Moreover, although recognising the autonomy and responsibility of human beings, Judaism generally opposes an unbridled right to self-determination.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We are (not) the master of our body’: elderly Jewish women's attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide

Baeke¹,

Wils²,

Broeckaert³

2011

Ethnicity & Health

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘We are (not) the master of our body’: elderly Jewish women's attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide

Baeke¹,

Wils²,

Broeckaert³

2011

Ethnicity & Health

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“…More specifically, in the context of a goses, therapies may be withheld that are not effective or that lack "life-preserving qualities" [11]. Adding to the complexity of these determinations, advances in medicine have changed the landscape of what one might consider to be "imminently dying" or a goses, depending at times on the resources and technologies available at a given medical center [12].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation as a Bridge to Chemotherapy in an Orthodox Jewish Patient

et al. 2014

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Objective. Venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA‐ECMO) for cardiopulmonary support offers survival possibilities to patients who otherwise would succumb to cardiac failure. Often referred to as “a bridge to recovery,” involving a ventricular assist device or cardiac transplantation, this technology only affords temporary cardiopulmonary support. Physicians may have concerns about initiating VA‐ECMO in patients who, in the absence of recovery or transfer to longer‐term therapies, might assert religious or cultural objections to the terminal discontinuation of life‐sustaining therapy (LST). We present a novel case of VA‐ECMO use in an Orthodox Jewish woman with potentially curable lymphoma encasing her heart to demonstrate the value of anticipating and preemptively resolving foreseeable disputes. Patient. A 40‐year‐old Hasidic Orthodox Jewish woman with lymphoma encasing her right and left ventricles decompensated from heart failure before chemotherapy induction. The medical team, at an academic medical center in New York City, proposed VA‐ECMO as a means for providing cardiopulmonary support to enable receipt of chemotherapy. Owing to the patient's religious tradition, which customarily prohibits terminal discontinuation of LST, clinical staff asked for an ethics consultation to plan for initiation and discontinuation of VA‐ECMO. Interventions. Meetings were held with the treating clinicians, clinical ethics consultants, family, religious leaders, and cultural liaisons. Through a deliberative process, VA‐ECMO was reconceptualized as a bridge to treatment and not as an LST, a designation assigned to the chemotherapy on this occasion, given the mortal threat posed by the encasing tumor. Conclusion. Traditional religious objections to the terminal discontinuation of LST need not preclude initiation of VA‐ECMO. The potential for disputes should be anticipated and steps taken to preemptively address such conflicts. The reconceptualization of VA‐ECMO as a bridge to treatment, rather than as an LST, can allow patients with objections to the terminal discontinuation of LST to receive interventions, such as chemotherapy, that might otherwise be precluded by critical physiology.

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“…No concern for “public health” or community beneficence has encroached on even the most permissive rabbinic opinions regarding cessation of care or euthanasia. 23 , 24 In fact, the emphasis is toward restoration of health or a reduction in suffering.…”

Section: Jewish Valuesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Six Values Never to Silence: Jewish Perspectives on Nazi Medical Professionalism

Kolman

Miller

2018

Rambam Maimonides Med J

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An ideological case study based on medical profession norms during the Third Reich will be used to exemplify the importance of diversity in the manifestations of professional ethics. The German professional medical community banned their Jewish colleagues from treating German citizens. This included legally mandated employment discrimination and outright censure which led to a professional ethic devoid of diverse voices. While the escalation to the T-4 program and medicalized genocide was influenced by many causes, the intentional, ethnocentric-based exclusion of voices was an important contributing element to the chronicled degradation of societal mores. For illustration, six core Jewish values—life, peace, justice, mercy, scholarship, and sincerity of intention—will be detailed for their potential to inspire health-care professionals to defend and protect minorities and for readers to think critically about the role of medical professionalism in Third Reich society. The Jewish teachings highlight the inherent professional obligations physicians have toward their patients in contrast to the Third Reich’s corruption of patient-centered professionalism. More fundamentally, juxtaposing Jewish and Nazi teachings exposes the loss of perspective when a profession’s identity spurns diversity. To ensure respect for persons in all vulnerable minorities, the first step is addressing professional inclusion of minority voices.

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‘There is a Time to be Born and a Time to Die’ (Ecclesiastes 3:2a): Jewish Perspectives on Euthanasia

Cited by 22 publications

References 21 publications

‘We are (not) the master of our body’: elderly Jewish women's attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide

‘We are (not) the master of our body’: elderly Jewish women's attitudes towards euthanasia and assisted suicide

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation as a Bridge to Chemotherapy in an Orthodox Jewish Patient

Six Values Never to Silence: Jewish Perspectives on Nazi Medical Professionalism

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