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Looking at Schiavo case through lens of Jewish law
By: DOUGLAS J. GUTH Senior Staff Reporter
In the short video clips being played around the clock on cable news shows, Florida resident Terri Schiavo wears the vacant expression of someone in a "persistent vegetative state," as her condition has been described by doctors.
The grainy footage, however, does not show a woman anywhere near death.
Schiavo, a Catholic, is brain damaged but not brain dead, and is able to breathe on her own. This distinction is critically important in determining the halachic (according to Jewish law) interpretation of the controversial case, says bioethicist Dr. Ronald Brauner, a professor at the Siegal College of Judaic Studies.
Brauner, an Orthodox Jew, says that although there can be a range of rabbinical interpretations, the predominating point of view among most Jewish authorities in a case like Schiavo's forbids hastening a patient's death. Therefore, Brauner continues, doctors cannot withhold food and water from a terminally ill patient if her heart is beating and she's breathing on her own.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tampa, Florida, denied an emergency inquiry to reinsert a feeding tube for Schiavo; she has been without food or water since a Florida state judge ordered her feeding tube removed March 18 at her husband's request.
Tuesday's ruling came after Congress and President George W. Bush enacted legislation allowing federal courts to review Schiavo's case. As of this writing, Schiavo's parents appealed the Tampa ruling to a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
A feeding tube has kept Schiavo alive for 15 years. Now, 41, Schiavo collapsed in her home in 1990, suffering from heart failure that led to severe brain damage.
Most end-of-life decisions revolve around the definition of death. Many rabbis across the denominations say a person is dead when his or her brain ceases to function or show electrical activity. But some Orthodox Jewish authorities say life ends only when the heart stops beating.
Pulling the plug on life support, organ transplants, withholding food and water for a dying patient, the need for doctors to employ "heroic measures" to save a life, and even the "quality of life" all involve the question of what constitutes death.
Jewish law requires one not remove a person's food, water and ability to breathe, says Rabbi Naphtali Burnstein, Orthodox spiritual leader of Young Israel of Greater Cleveland. Thus, removing Schiavo's feeding tube, "her source of sustenance," is not allowed under halacha.
Since Schiavo does not appear to be suffering or in "the process of dying, there would be little support in Jewish tradition" for euthanizing her, notes Brauner. In his view, ending the life of a brain damaged but relatively healthy person is akin to "murder," as "Judaism's highest principal is preservation of life."
Further, says Brauner, the terms "dying with dignity" and "quality of life" have little standing in Jewish law. In the Schiavo case, these phrases are used as "subterfuge," he claims, by family members desperately trying to move on in their own lives.
However, if Schiavo were dying and in obvious pain, adds Brauner, Jewish law "allows us to hasten the process of death" through means such as removing her from a respirator.
Rabbi Edward Bernstein, spiritual leader at Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (Conservative), says that Schiavo's "persistent vegetative state" can be deemed suffering enough to allow removal of the feeding tube.
According to http://www.cnn.com, people in a "persistent vegetative state" cannot think, speak or respond to commands and are not aware of their surroundings. They may have noncognitive functions, and breathing and circulation may remain relatively intact.
Judaism places great value on the preservation of life, but some rabbinical literature asserts that "we can remove impediments to death" under such circumstances, Bernstein maintains.
End-of-life decisions require a delicate balance of "respecting the inherent dignity of a person, no matter their mental capacity," and also "not wanting to prolong the dying process when someone is suffering," says Rabbi Richard Block of The Temple-Tifereth Israel.
Those decisions, adds the Reform spiritual leader, need to be made by the individual responsible for the patient's care. "It's deeply disturbing for the government to be involved with a moral decision."
Like Judaism, the most important tenet of government is to preserve life, contradicts Brauner. "(Schiavo) is not dead, so government has the right to step in to ensure she's not made dead."
Had Schiavo written a living will, this controversy would not have arisen, notes State Senator Eric Fingerhut. In Ohio, hospitals and physicians must follow the wishes of a patient, whether or not death is imminent, as outlined in a legally executed living will. "If you want your (end-of-life) intentions honored, you must have that document," he says.
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) chose to support the Schiavo bill (allowing federal courts to take over the case), despite his traditionally strong advocacy for states' rights. An aide to the former Ohio governor told The New York Times Tuesday that Voinovich's opposition to euthanasia outweighed his views on federalism.
Rabbi Matthew Eisenberg of Temple Israel Ner Tamid (Reform) doesn't have a living will, but the Schiavo case has spurred him to get one, he admits.
"If I were in her situation, I'd wish to be allowed to drift off peacefully."
(with reports from http://www.cnn.com)
Jewish law requires one not remove a person's food, water, and ability to breathe.
"It's deeply disturbing for the government to be involved with a moral decision."
Rabbi Richard Block
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
Schiavo "is not dead, so government has the right to step in to ensure she's not made dead."
Ronald Brauner, Ph.D.
The grainy footage, however, does not show a woman anywhere near death.
Schiavo, a Catholic, is brain damaged but not brain dead, and is able to breathe on her own. This distinction is critically important in determining the halachic (according to Jewish law) interpretation of the controversial case, says bioethicist Dr. Ronald Brauner, a professor at the Siegal College of Judaic Studies.
Brauner, an Orthodox Jew, says that although there can be a range of rabbinical interpretations, the predominating point of view among most Jewish authorities in a case like Schiavo's forbids hastening a patient's death. Therefore, Brauner continues, doctors cannot withhold food and water from a terminally ill patient if her heart is beating and she's breathing on her own.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Tampa, Florida, denied an emergency inquiry to reinsert a feeding tube for Schiavo; she has been without food or water since a Florida state judge ordered her feeding tube removed March 18 at her husband's request.
Tuesday's ruling came after Congress and President George W. Bush enacted legislation allowing federal courts to review Schiavo's case. As of this writing, Schiavo's parents appealed the Tampa ruling to a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
A feeding tube has kept Schiavo alive for 15 years. Now, 41, Schiavo collapsed in her home in 1990, suffering from heart failure that led to severe brain damage.
Most end-of-life decisions revolve around the definition of death. Many rabbis across the denominations say a person is dead when his or her brain ceases to function or show electrical activity. But some Orthodox Jewish authorities say life ends only when the heart stops beating.
Pulling the plug on life support, organ transplants, withholding food and water for a dying patient, the need for doctors to employ "heroic measures" to save a life, and even the "quality of life" all involve the question of what constitutes death.
Jewish law requires one not remove a person's food, water and ability to breathe, says Rabbi Naphtali Burnstein, Orthodox spiritual leader of Young Israel of Greater Cleveland. Thus, removing Schiavo's feeding tube, "her source of sustenance," is not allowed under halacha.
Since Schiavo does not appear to be suffering or in "the process of dying, there would be little support in Jewish tradition" for euthanizing her, notes Brauner. In his view, ending the life of a brain damaged but relatively healthy person is akin to "murder," as "Judaism's highest principal is preservation of life."
Further, says Brauner, the terms "dying with dignity" and "quality of life" have little standing in Jewish law. In the Schiavo case, these phrases are used as "subterfuge," he claims, by family members desperately trying to move on in their own lives.
However, if Schiavo were dying and in obvious pain, adds Brauner, Jewish law "allows us to hasten the process of death" through means such as removing her from a respirator.
Rabbi Edward Bernstein, spiritual leader at Congregation Shaarey Tikvah (Conservative), says that Schiavo's "persistent vegetative state" can be deemed suffering enough to allow removal of the feeding tube.
According to http://www.cnn.com, people in a "persistent vegetative state" cannot think, speak or respond to commands and are not aware of their surroundings. They may have noncognitive functions, and breathing and circulation may remain relatively intact.
Judaism places great value on the preservation of life, but some rabbinical literature asserts that "we can remove impediments to death" under such circumstances, Bernstein maintains.
End-of-life decisions require a delicate balance of "respecting the inherent dignity of a person, no matter their mental capacity," and also "not wanting to prolong the dying process when someone is suffering," says Rabbi Richard Block of The Temple-Tifereth Israel.
Those decisions, adds the Reform spiritual leader, need to be made by the individual responsible for the patient's care. "It's deeply disturbing for the government to be involved with a moral decision."
Like Judaism, the most important tenet of government is to preserve life, contradicts Brauner. "(Schiavo) is not dead, so government has the right to step in to ensure she's not made dead."
Had Schiavo written a living will, this controversy would not have arisen, notes State Senator Eric Fingerhut. In Ohio, hospitals and physicians must follow the wishes of a patient, whether or not death is imminent, as outlined in a legally executed living will. "If you want your (end-of-life) intentions honored, you must have that document," he says.
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) chose to support the Schiavo bill (allowing federal courts to take over the case), despite his traditionally strong advocacy for states' rights. An aide to the former Ohio governor told The New York Times Tuesday that Voinovich's opposition to euthanasia outweighed his views on federalism.
Rabbi Matthew Eisenberg of Temple Israel Ner Tamid (Reform) doesn't have a living will, but the Schiavo case has spurred him to get one, he admits.
"If I were in her situation, I'd wish to be allowed to drift off peacefully."
(with reports from http://www.cnn.com)
Jewish law requires one not remove a person's food, water, and ability to breathe.
"It's deeply disturbing for the government to be involved with a moral decision."
Rabbi Richard Block
The Temple-Tifereth Israel
Schiavo "is not dead, so government has the right to step in to ensure she's not made dead."
Ronald Brauner, Ph.D.
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