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Applying traditional Jewish law to PVS
1University of Judaism, the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, 15600 Mulholland Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90077, USA. edorff@uj.edu
Neurorehabilitation
|January 27, 2005
Summary
Jewish law permits removing life support that prolongs dying but prohibits hastening death. While most rabbis accept brain death criteria, they generally consider PVS patients alive, though some permit withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration.
Area of Science:
- Bioethics
- Jewish Law
- Medical Ethics
Background:
- Jewish tradition defines death by cessation of respiration and heartbeat.
- Life-support removal is permissible if it doesn't hasten death.
- Rabbis debate the definition of death in modern medical contexts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore Jewish legal perspectives on end-of-life medical interventions.
- To analyze the application of traditional death criteria to modern medical definitions like brain death.
- To examine the permissibility of withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration for patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS).
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Jewish legal texts and rabbinic responsa.
- Comparison of traditional indicators of death with contemporary neurological criteria.
- Ethical deliberation on the status of patients in persistent vegetative state.
Main Results:
- Most rabbis permit using brain death criteria, aligning it with traditional signs like respiration cessation or decapitation.
- Patients in persistent vegetative state (PVS) do not meet traditional or accepted brain death criteria, thus are generally considered alive.
- A minority of rabbinic authorities permit withholding or withdrawing artificial nutrition and hydration from PVS patients.
Conclusions:
- Jewish bioethics navigates the tension between preserving life and allowing natural death.
- The definition of death remains a complex issue, particularly concerning neurological criteria and PVS.
- Discussions on artificial nutrition and hydration withdrawal highlight diverse interpretations within Jewish legal scholarship.
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