"End-of-Life Decisions" explores these and related questions in the seven selections that comprise this Reform Judaism “Focus” section. Further, family members who challenge the patient's wishes, even when that patient is competent to make his or her own life-or-death decisions either in person or in a living will, face additional emotions of guilt and betrayal. When this happens, the bitter dispute can permanently scar the family constellation. The emotional drain on those who must make the decision is profound, especially when family members disagree on a course of action. The pathos plays itself out much more frequently away from public glare.ĭeciding whether a loved one should continue to linger or should be helped to die has far-reaching consequences apart from what the decision means for the person we love. These are two highly visible examples of modern disputes. Quinlan survived in a vegetative state for nine years, breathing on her own, fed through a tube. Hospital officials refused, but lost their case in the New Jersey Supreme Court. Yet a similar surge of public interest surfaced in 1975 when Karen Ann Quinlan's parents requested the hospital to disconnect their brain-dead young daughter from a respirator. It is tempting to look on the 2005 Terri Schiavo case as a framework for this Reform Judaism “Focus” section because the tragedy mobilized opinions and caused many who had not thitherto struggled with the question to think about it. Nor is living longer evident among some population segments in many advanced countries.) (NOTE: Increasing longevity does not characterize many parts of the world where living conditions and the unavailability of modern medicine preclude long life. Bio-ethicists, religious leaders, politicians, doctors, jurists-–and most of us-–will, sooner or later, confront the myriad questions arising from the simple fact that we are living longer than at any time in history. Besides, new science poses new moral questions regarding, for example, premature birth/neonatal care, brain function, dementia, cardiac resuscitation, oncology, and a host of other conditions that necessitate judgment calls about whether or not to intervene, for life or for death. Moreover, some Jewish positions contradict others. However, there are no unequivocal answers for these daunting questions. Judaism has much to teach us about living and dying (and, indeed, about all ultimate questions).
LIFE OR DEATH DECISIONS SYNONYM FREE
But how do we know when the dying time has come? Are we free to determine time and method? Can lose-lose ever become win-win? What do win and lose mean in the context of concern for the welfare of the caregiver and the dignity and self-esteem of the loved one who depends on you-literally-– for life and death? We learn: "There is a time for being born and a time for dying" ( Ecclesiastes3:2). Both acting and not acting are partners to guilt, fear, shame, inadequacy. Perhaps the choice is, rather, whether to expedite death by administering drugs or by withholding nutrients. Quality-of-life decisions that define life in terms of physical and/or mental competence and self-sufficiency complicate the equation, and sometimes pit family members against one another in the legitimate quest to determine if and when to "pull the plug." It is not easy to act on the anguishing decision even when all family members agree on what to do: guilt and remorse complicate the impact of seeing a loved one suffer and interfere with the proper unfolding of the mourning process.īut suppose manipulating the plug is not even an option. An aged spouse is also especially vulnerable when called upon to make decisions about a suffering lifetime partner. The new circumstances particularly affect demographic groups like the "sandwich generation" as it struggles to make life-and-death decisions about a parent who lingers on life-sustaining systems while at the same time tending to a family and raising children. The blessings allow us to live longer and longer, but prolonged life often brings physical, mental, and psychological disabilities that surpass the present limits of science. They also create new and ever-more perplexing challenges.
Unprecedented advances in medicine and pharmacology are modern blessings.
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