The Clash of Wills and the Will to Heal: Pediatric Ethics and Rabbinic Thought
Hillel Gray
In contemporary bioethics, some of the most contested and difficult questions concern the bodies of children. At what age should children have more freedom over their bodies and their medical care than parents or physicians? Is it ethical for parents to arrange for a child to donate blood marrow or participate in a biomedical experiment? At what age may a child, regardless of parental wishes, refuse chemotherapy? When, if ever, should parents refuse to have their children vaccinated? Who should decide about life-support interventions for newborns in extremis? Would it be right for children to be genetically designed or enhanced? Class participants will pore over Talmudic and medieval rabbinic law, as well as recent Orthodox, Conservative & Reform responsa that shed light on pediatric ethics. For questions not yet addressed by the rabbinate(s), we will try to chart the likely trajectories of Jewish pediatric ethics.
Hillel Gray is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and the Scholar of Bioethics and Jewish Thought at Emory Center for Ethics. He has a PhD in the History of Judaism at the University of Chicago. He is former policy director of the National Environmental Law Center and has served on the board of minyanim from both the left and right ends of Jewish life.
Categories
- Contemporary Issues
- Intermediate Text
- Morning Course
