Certain fundamental Jewish legal questions appear in organ donation issues. Organ donations from living people to save the lives of others, where donor health will not suffer, be allowed and encouraged in Jewish law. Organ donation from the dead is equally permissible for the same purpose: to save lives ( pikuach nefesh ). The simple statement of this problem belies, however, the complexity of defining death in Jewish law. Thus, despite the side issues of body mutilation etc., the main problem preventing organ donation from the dead among Jews, in most cases, is the definition of death, simply because it takes the organ that sustains life from a person. the surviving is murder.
Because in Jewish law, organ donation raises such difficult questions, has traditionally been filled with some skepticism. Neither in Orthodox Judaism nor non-Orthodox Judaism, the majority view holds that organ donation is permissible in cases of an irreversible heart rhythm. But most of the organs must be transplanted before the heart stops, and this has led to much discussion and judgment of Jewish law so that today, while there continues to be opposition to transplant before heart/respiratory death, there are some authorities who argue that is allowed, and this is now the official position of the Government of the State of Israel and its Chief Rabbinate.
Video Organ donation in Jewish law
Relevant Jewish legal principles
In assessing the case for organ donation, the rabbis applied various Jewish principles and considered a precedent regarding donors. In Judaism, almost all actions are allowed to save the lives of others, provided the risk of death of the person is real and immediate (pikuach nefesh) - the only actions that are not allowed are bloodshed, illicit relationships, and idolatry.
If the donor lives then he should not donate an organ where this would endanger his death, even if this is to save the lives of others. However, where there will be no significant harm to his health, he may do so, and some even argue that he is obliged.
If the donor is dead, there is, in principle, no obstacle to organ donation during that time for the purpose of pikuach nefesh, but the fact is that the donor must die, otherwise the removal of vital organs will be murder, and the problem is how death is defined.
Traditionally Judaism defines death as the absence of heart rate/breathing, but with advances in modern medicine and the emergence of brain concepts or brainstem death, which can occur when the heart and lungs are maintained artificially under appropriate circumstances, disagreement has arisen when organs can be harvested. The traditional opinion is that only after the cessation of cardio-respiratory activity, which makes the potential for transplantation of many organs become unfeasible. But the above medical advances have led to much discussion and judgment of Jewish law so that today, while there continues to be opposition to transplant before heart/respiratory death, there are some authorities who argue that it is permissible, and this is now officially the position of the government of the State of Israel and the Chief His rabbi. However, no consensus is approved, and it is always advisable to consult a rabbi before making a decision.
Determination of death
The other major debate surrounding organ donation relates to the definition of death. Because if the accepted definition of death is "incorrect," removing the heart of a donor established under the "wrong" criterion is tantamount to murder. With life support technology and cardiopulmonary resuscitative, building the moment of death becomes more complicated and opinionated.
According to some, Jewish law defines death as a state of complete and unalterable kitziorespiration cessation, followed by a minimum of 5 minutes waiting as long as it is not restored (time period depends on habit). After 5 minutes the blood flow to the organs has stopped, at that moment the lifting of the organ to save lives is allowed according to some rabbinical opinions. Some opinions define death only as an irreversible cessation, and some define death as the irrevocable cessation of the heart rate - which is the majority, of long-accepted opinion.
In 1968, the Harvard committee decided on a set of criteria for an irreversible coma, or brainstem death. Regarding the point at which a person is considered dead in case of brainstem death with a ventilator machine that causes heart rate, a definitive consensus of the halachic authority has not been reached today. But an increase in the number of orthodox authorities accepts the death of the brain stem with its various strictures, allowing surgeons to make full use of modern medical technology in organ transplants from the deceased. Israel, in particular, passed an organ donation law in 2008 with the full support of the Chief Rabbinate, and in other jurisdictions organizations such as the Halachic Organ Donor Society (HODS) encouraged and supported the donations.
Other considerations
Apart from the problem of building death, there are additional problems in Jewish law that may arise in connection with organ donation. Judaism is very concerned with the dignity of the dead, and there are explicit laws regarding proper care to be given to the body, ensuring respect for its dignity. Yet this is pale in addition to the main problem of the formation of death:
- Mutilation of the dead - Torah prohibits the unnecessary mutilation of the dead. However, if mutilation is done with the goal of saving lives, Pikuach Nefesh principle allows it.
- Burial delays - Although the Torah prohibits delays in funerals, and organ harvesting can delay it by a few hours, if it is done with the purpose of saving lives, the Pikuach Nefesh principle allows it.
- Benefiting from death - The Torah prohibits benefiting from the dead. Although the beneficiaries of dead organs, as this is done with the purpose of saving lives, Pikuach Nefesh principle allows it.
Severely ill donors
Another problem with organ donation about donors is the prohibition to touch goses . A goses is a halachic category that is considered to come from critically ill people and is expected to die within a short period of time, usually three days. The Jewish law forbids touching the body of gosses for fear that sudden movement can accelerate the time of death. For this reason, there may be reluctance to medical intervention (preparing patients for organ donation) with patients soon to die solely for the purpose of preparing them for organ donation. Therefore, a heart transplant raises a controversial question about when a person determines the donor of a dead patient to be able to initiate a transplant procedure and remove the heart.
Maps Organ donation in Jewish law
Organ Transplant Type and Jewish law
Artificial organs
Transplants with artificial organs do not cause problems in Jewish law (with the exception of artificial heart transplants), as long as the prospect of success is greater than the risks. Therefore, there is no conflict with the Jewish law against artificial heart valves, bone parts, joints, and the use of dialysis. Artificial heart transplantation is not permitted under Jewish law because of the low success rate and the serious medical complications involved. Medical science has not reached the point of being able to use artificial organs or animal organs as a protocol for transplantation.
Blood and bone marrow
According to Jewish legal applications, it is permissible to donate blood and bone marrow tissue because there is virtually no danger or risk to donors, and these tissues regenerate rapidly.
Heart
For successful liver and liver transplants, donor heart still has to beat. There is an important problem in determining the moment of death to allow for heart transplantation. As stated, some rabbis forbid the removal of organs from brain-dead patients, making it impossible to perform a heart transplant. Other rabbis accept criteria for brainstem death and allow organ transplants to immediately save lives.
Kidney
After a donor kidney, the donor lives with one kidney and there is a small risk associated with the surgery. Whether a person is obliged to endanger his own life to a certain extent to save the lives of others who are critically ill is a critical question in the Jewish decision. Therefore, there are several rabbinical opinions that prohibit renal donation from living donors. Other rabbis allow it as an act of piety, and others believe it is a duty not to break a rule, "You shall not be silent by the blood of your neighbor."
Lung
Lung transplant lobes are not common from living donors because mobility and mortality in donors are felt to be excessive. Non-life lung donation is more commonly used.
Skin
Many Rabbits allow organ donors to save souls to extend this to allow the conservation of human skin from carcasses in leather banks to be used in the future for injured victims.
Ultra-Orthodox Resistance
Some Haredim vehemently opposed postmortem organ donation for violating Jewish burial law, which considers the abolition of postmortem organs as "staining the corpse." Many Haredi rabbis also oppose organ harvesting when the person is classified as "brain dead." Although there are some rabbis in the Haredi world following the religious merits of the modern Orthodox community, most follow a more traditional interpretation.
Haredim in Israel recently issued a donor or "live" organs anti-organ card intended to ensure that organs are not removed from carriers after brain death or brainstem death. It states: "I do not give my permission to take from me, not in life or death, organs or parts of my body for any purpose."
However, the Haredi Jews have high levels of living organ donation. By 2014, 17% of all kidney donations living to foreigners in the United States are donated by the Jewish Haredi, even though they are only 0.2% of the US population. Other studies of other living organ donations in the US and Israel show the same high donation rates for various organs.
Many Haredi leaders point out that their community is a pro-organ donation, they are only opposed to it in certain circumstances.
See also
- Religious view of organ donation
- Organ transplants in Israel
Source
- International Rabbinic Fellowship. Halakhic Realities: Collecting Essays on Organ Donation . Zev Farber, ed. Jerusalem: Maggid Books 2017.
- Elliot N. Dorff. The Problem of Life and Death: The Jewish Approach to Modern Medical Ethics . Philadelphia and Jerusalem: Jewish Publication Society 1998. Pp. xix, 476. ISBNÃ, 0-8276-0647-8
- Jakobovits, Immanuel. 1959. Jewish Medical Ethics . New York: Bloch Publishing. pp.Ã, 285-291
- Lau, Y. "Sale of organs for transplantation" (Hebrew), Tehumin 18: 125-136, 1998
- Joseph Prouser. "Organ and Tissue Donation Card" at Mackler, Aaron L., ed. 2000. Life & amp; Responsibility for Death in Jewish Biomedical Ethics . JTS.
- Ramirez, Anthony. "Treatment of Religion in Donation of Organ Donations." New York Times , November 18, 2006, Vol. 156 Problem 53767, p. B2, (AN 23283799)
- Sinclair, Daniel. Jewish Biomedical Law . Oxford Univ. Press, 2003 (Chapter 6)
- Twersky, Abraham, Michael Gold, and Walter Jacob. 1991. "The Jewish Perspective." pp.Ã, 187-98 in New Harvest: Moving the Body and Plucking Its Benefits, edited by C. Don Keyes and Walter E. Wiest. Clifton, NJ: Hurnana Press.
- Stephen J. Werber. "Ancient Answers to Modern Questions: Death, Death, and Organ Transplant - Jewish Law Perspective," Journal of Law and Health Cleveland State University , 1996/1997, v.11
- Cohen, Alfred. "Sales or donations of human organs." Journal of Halacha and the Contemporary Society, 2006.
- Fink, Reuven. "Halachic Aspects of Organ Transplants." Journal of Halacha and the Contemporary Society, 1983.
References
External links
- Israeli Ministry of Health: ADI National Transplant Center
- The Organ Donor Society of Halachic
- Chabad.org: Donation of Jewish Organs
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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