JUDAISM

Why Medical Ethics?

Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. | . . . The scientific community, and the medical community in particular, have been the impetus for some of the most barbaric and immoral programs of the 20th century. . .
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Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. | . . . Does man have any right to heal at all, and if he does, are there any limitations on how it may be accomplished? Is every action done in the name of therapy justified, solely because a physician performs it?. . .
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Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. | . . .Judaism retains a markedly paternalistic view of medicine. . . . Man is given custodial rights to his body, and has no more right to harm or destroy his body than the superintendent has to ransack the building he is hired to maintain. . .
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Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. | . . . The traditional Jewish view of abortion does not fit conveniently into any of the major "camps" in the current American abortion debate. We neither ban abortion completely, nor do we allow indiscriminate abortion "on demand." To gain a clear understanding of when abortion is sanctioned, or even required, and when it is forbidden, requires an appreciation of certain nuances of halacha (Jewish law) which govern the status of the fetus. . . .
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Daniel Eisenberg, M.D. |. . . an undesired result of infertility treatment is the situation of a woman pregnant with up to seven fetuses. . .As a result, many physicians recommend selectively aborting some of the fetuses to reduce the pregnancy to twins or triplets at most. . . Is it permissible to abort some of the fetuses so that the others stand a reasonable chance of living? If so, how should we choose which ones to abort? . . .
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Avraham Steinberg, M.D. | . . . The primary question regarding the technology of cloning humans is, therefore: Is there an inherent, specific transgression of halakhah and/or hashkafahin the actual process of cloning or in its results? . . .
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Rabbi Asher Lipner * | . . .At a time when a subject with such great moral implications is being hotly debated in our society, it is important for Jews to understand our own tradition in order for us to keep our sense of identity . . .
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Charles Wagner*, Adam Hummel* | How does the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in Carter v. Canada (Attorney General)1 ("Carter") impact on the religious Jewish doctor? Will this landmark decision bring into conflict these doctors' freedom of conscience and religion with their professional obligations? The Carter case sets aside federal criminal laws as they relate to physician assisted suicide. It stands for the proposition that individuals who are suffering unbearably have a constitutional right to a physician-assisted suicide.
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The aims of this position paper are: To present the position of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions regarding the values and the practices relevant to the dying patient, for the benefit of patients, families, health-care providers and policy makers who are adherents of one of these religions. . .
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