Science Qnd Ethics a Joint Perspective

Science qnd Ethics A Joint Perspective Spring 2OO7 Vol I ll e2 Slern College for Women Yeshivo University q/( SCIENCE AND ETHICS A JOINT PERSPECTIVE Editor in Chief: Miriam Ausubel Associate Editor: Ariella Cohen Editorial Assistant: Lcah Fried Faculty Advisor: Rabbi Dr. Richard Weiss Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective TABLE OF CONTENTS Three Responses to the Bodies' Exhibit.......3 Rebecca Marmor AnimalExperimentation... ..........ll Ariella Cohen Surrogate Motherhood ........38 Reena Gottesman Ilelief and Medicine. ..........50 Dalia Barenboim How OId is Too Old, 66 Golda Stromer lluthanasia. ............75 Claudia Amzallag Negligent Behavior and the Right to Medical Treatment.. ............83 Rabbi Richard Weiss. M.D. Science & Ethics: A Joinl Perspective Three Responses to the Bodies Exhibit Rebecca Marmor Exhibitions such as "Bodies" in Manhattan and "llody World" in Lost Angeles provide what was once an runthinkable opportunity for the public: the chance to peer irrto actual human bodies which have been dissected to tlisplay organs, bones and other intemal structures of irttcrcst. For the price ofa movie and popcorn, any child or rrdrrlt can enter an exhibition hall and gaze at a number of hodics (structures from over two hundred bodies are often shown) which have been carefully posed and dissected to rcvcal brains, hearts, blood vessels, fetuses in utero, and various pathological stages of disease. Although the ctlucational power of such exhibits is undeniable (to understand why, one need only to see the faces of smokers standing close enough to touch a pair of preserved lungs liom a person who suffered from emphysema) the ethical issucs brought up by the exhibits are both pressing and cause for concem. With the rising popularity and acceptance of these exhibits across the world, the time has come to pause and reflect for a moment on the ethics of displaying the bodies of deceased humans, en masse. This 3 Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective paper will briefly discuss the science behind the exhibits. llirgcns developed a preservation technique. His technique, Next, it will consider the Jewish ethical approach to the known as plastination, halts decomposition by depriving exhibitions. Finally, it will consider how Socrates, an early hirctcria of a hospitable environment to colonize, Greek philosopher might have reacted upon leaming of the gr[olif'erate, and metabolize. By replacing the water and fat exhibits. irr thc body with a synthetic polymer, von Hagens was able From the moment of death, the body begins the lo stop the body from decomposing, while simultaneously process of decomposition, which has two primary causes. grlcscrving its shape and structure.r Plastination differs One cause is that upon death, indigenous bacteria, which liorn other methods of preservation because it allows inhabited parts of the body such as the intestine while it lrssuos to maintain their natural shape and size. The was alive, are given free reign to consume the body. The leclrnique also allows for the display of specimens in the intestinal bacteria first begin to consume the intestine and o;tcrr air; as opposed to the murky bottles of formaldehyde then spread to other pafts of the body whiqh it can then go trrrrrry biology students have encountered. on to decompose. Decomposition can also be attributed to Now that we have leamed a bit about the science the enzymes found in the body. On a macroscopic scale, hchirrd the exhibits, we might have a greater appreciation of digestive enzymes contained in the intestine eventually lltc lirct that the bodies which are displayed are quite real. spread throughout the body. On a microscopic scale, 'l'ltcrc arc a plethora of ethical issues that arise from the enzymes contained within individual cells are released oxllihils. Can a person will her body for the purpose of upon cell death and break down the cell and its connections noril rnortcm exhibition? Should actual bodies of the with other cells and therefore also contribute to the lscd be displayed for the public? Is it permissible to decomposition of the body. lrry bodies of those who have not consented (e.g., To stop the decomposition process and preserve the sorcls)'/ And finally, is it ethical to display bodies fbr a bodies for public viewing, in the 1970s, Dr. Gunther von l'l 'l'his paper will only examine the question of 4 5 Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective whether or not it is ethical to display the bodies of the I )cutl in Jcwish Law," Rabbi Jakobovitz remarks, in regards deceased for public consumption. However, in order to lu llrr: afbrementioned episodes, that "it is noteworthy that answer this question, it will be necessary to consider a few nrr voicc ofprotest was raised against these practices, a fact of the other questions which are raised. It is imperative to lll thc more remarkable since Jewish law in general note that this paper will not tackle the issue of whether or riporously upholds the inviolability of the human body in not it is ethical to display the bodies of those who have not tlcuttr as in life".2 In fact, it seems that Jewish law was consented. For the purposes of this paper, it should be lclirlivcly tolerant towards dissection of human bodies up assumed that we are only discussing exhibitions which rrrrlil thc eighteenth century. There is much evidence to display the bodies of individuals who have specifically nrrgg,cst that dissections were permitted for legal autopsies. willed their bodies for such a purpose. I f us attitude shifted in 1737, when a Jewish medical We continue with an examination of the how Jewish rtlt(lcnt wrote to Rabbi Jacob Emden to determine if he Law peroeives the exhibits. In order to understand the eorrltl participate on Shabbat in the dissection of dogs used Jewish perspective, it is necessary to consider how Jewish in lhc absence of human cadavers.3 Rabbi Emden's Law has ruled on the question of autopsies. We begin with rcsponse was twofold. First, he noted that participation on the Babylonian Talmud, Niddah 30b, which relates how thc Sabbath was prohibited and secondly, he explained that Queen Cleopatra had the bodies of her pregnant female it was forbidden to derive benefit from a body, regardless slaves cut open for anatomical study to reveal the stages of ol wlrether the person was a Jew or not. It should be noted fetal development. In another episode, the Talmud, lhal although the student only asked in regards to dissecting Bekhorot 45a, describes how several disciples of Rabbi tlogs, Rabbi Emden used his question as a platform to voice Yishmael boiled the body of a prostitute, who had been thc opinion that dissection of humans is forbidden. This sentenced to death, to determine the precise number of lcsponsum marks the beginning of a decidedly anti- bones in a human. In his article on the "Dissection of the tlisscction attitude which permcated halakhic Judaism until 6 7 Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective present times. The only exception to this ruling which clctr violation of the halakhic mandate to bury the dead as prohibits autopsies, regardless of the religion practiced by quickly as possible.a the deceased, is when autopsying a body might provide Next, we ask whether or not one can visit vital clues for the treatment of already existing patients, and oxhibitions of plastinated bodies. This question is a thus potentially could save lives. This ruling is yet another nllulil'cstation of the same tension which pervaded our manifestation ofthe general attitude in Judaism that saving lnvcstigation of autopsy. It is a tension between the desire life comes before all else. Attitudes conoeming both Iu lcarn, so that we might save lives, and the need to treat dissection and autopsy have shifted over the millennia and llrc body with utmost respect, bury it quickly, and not gain indicate that there is a range of acceptability and lrry bcnefit from it (as the halakha demands). In the case of pemissibility of the practice. cxhibits, various exit polls of visitors have demonstrated Equipped with both an understanding of the thc strong impressions the exhibits have made on the preservation technique which enables bodies to be placed visitors.5 Displays of lungs blackened with tar, blood on public display for extended periods of time and a basic vcsscls crippled with plaque and skin lesions caused by understanding of range of opinions Jewish commentators ovcrcxposure to the sun, are alatming and can potentially have held conceming autopsy, we are now able to delve prrvide inspiration for visitors to take better care of their into the questions raised by such exhibits. We begin by hotlics and possibly take measures which might save their questioning the preservation technique, plastination. livcs. Halakha, which has rejected all forms of embalming, However, this desire to save the lives of those who cremation and other unnatural means of interment, surely visit must be checked by other halakhic demands. In his forbids a Jew to speciflz that his body should be preserved rcsponsum from 173'1, Rabbi Jacob Emden clearly in such a manner. Also, it should be noted that the process cxplained that it is forbidden to derive any benefit from of plastination for an entire body can take weeks. This is a corpses, regardless of their religion.3 The benefrts granted 8 9 Science & Ethics: A Joint Perspective Science & Ethics: A Joinl Perspective by the exhibitions are of two types; the benefit for those Irrrrrsclf'as part ofthe grand tradition of anatomists, such as 'l who put on the exhibit and the benefit for those who attend l)r ulp, who was famously depicted by Rembrandt as them.

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