SELECTED REFORM RESPONSA
The individual who seeks relief from her pain should receive drugs which may help, even though they may slightly hasten death. As this is a very long term process, the drug cannot be seen as actually causing her death. Suffering itself has never been seen as an independent good by Judaism . Even criminals destined for execution were drugged to alleviate their suffering(San. 43a). Similarly the executioner of the martyr Hanina ben Teradyon was permitted by him to increase the temperature and remove wool sponges from his heart in order to make death a little easier, though Hanina was unwilling to pray for his own death as his disciples suggested(4. Z. 18a). We would, therefore, see no objection to relieving the suffering of the woman who is dying from cancer and for whom the drugs are not life threatening.
It is clear that in each of these cases, and in others like them, we should do our best to enhance the quality of life and to use whatever means modern science has placed at our disposal for this purpose. We need not invoke"heroic" measures to prolong life, nor should we hesitate to alleviate pain, but we can also not utilize a"low quality" of life as an excuse for hastening death.
We cannot generalize about the"quality of life" but must treat each case which we face individually. All life is wonderful and mysterious. The human situation, the family setting and other factors must be carefully analyzed before a sympathetic decision can be reached.
December 1985