ALLOWING A TERMINAL PATIENT TO DIE Solomon B. Freehof
QUESTION: A terminal patient was dying as a result of a series of strokes. Two physicians, one of whom was the patient’s son, decided with the consent of the family- to hasten the end by withdrawing all medication and fluids given intravenously. Is such procedure permitted by Jewish law?*
ANSWER: This is a complex question and, therefore, is not quite clear in the law. However, there is enough in the legal literature to permit us to arrive at a conclusion.
First, let us dispose of a secondary question. It is not altogether irrelevant that one of the physicians, a noted surgeon, was the son of the patient. There is a great deal of discussion in Jewish law as to the relationship between a physician and a patient who is his father. There are many responsa which--even nowadays-discuss the question whether a son who is a surgeon may operate on his father.
The basis of this legal debate is Exodus 21:15, which states that he who smites his father must be pu. to death; and the law is that "smiting" is not considered so grave a sin unless it creates a wound. Therefore it is the creating of a wound on the body of one’s father which is considered a grave sin. Hence the Mishnah(Sanhedrin X1.I) and the Talmud (Sanhedrin 84b) discuss whether a son may perform the operation of bloodletting on his father as part of his work as a physician, or make a wound on his body. This is discussed by Maimonides in Yad, Hilhkot Mamrim, V.7, and in the Shulhan Arukh, Yoreh Deah 241.3. In the Shulhan Arukh, Caro states the law that a son may not operate on a father, but Isserles says that if there is no one else available for the operation, he may do so. Isserles bases his opinion on the opinion of Maimonides (loc. cit.). This would be the general conclusion of the law. All this, of course, is incidental to our question.
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