9:00 – 10:30 a.m.

The Indeterminacy of Rabbinic Ethics

Presenter: Baruch Brody, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University

SJE Respondent: Louis Newman
SCE Respondent: Lisa Sowle Cahill

I intend to talk about the indeterminacy of rabbinic ethics--on every major topic, most of the plausible positions have significant support. The two questions I want to raise are why this is so and whether this is a good thing. The paper will be divided into 3 sections: the first will demonstrate the indeterminacy in a few crucial cases, and the second and third will deal with my two questions.

Grand Ballroom West

11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

A Jewish Perspective on Genetic Screening and Prophylactic Interventions to Prevent Cancer”

Presenter: Mark Popovsky

SJE Convener: Laurie Zoloth

SCE Respondent

This paper analyzes the concepts in classical Jewish tradition relevant to genetic screening and prophylactic interventions for women carrying BRCA1&2 mutations, a genetic condition associated with increased incidence of breast and ovarian cancer, more common in women of Ashkenazi Jewish decent than in the general population. This paper assesses if any argument can be made from Jewish tradition that a woman should or should not be tested for these mutations. It also explores the sources which might guide a woman in how to respond if she finds out that she does carry a mutation in the BRCA1&2 genes.

Rockdale

12:45 – 1:45 p.m.

Grand Salon A

Lunch and Panel Discussion:

Pluralism in Jewish Bioethics: Continuing the Conversation

Moderator: William Cutter (Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles)

Panelists: Noam Zohar (Shalom Hartman Institute, Jerusalem), David Teutsch (Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, Philadelphia), Adrienne Asch (Yeshiva University, New York)

2:00 – 3:15 p.m.

Gwinnett

Non-heart Beating Donor (NHBD) Organ Transplantation: A Jewish Bioethical Analysis

Presenter: Jill G. Hackell (Academy for Jewish Religion, New York)

Respondent: Sander Mendelson (Washington Hospital Center, Bethesda)

Shortage of organs for donation from patients who meet the criteria for whole brain death has prompted the development of protocols to obtain organs from patients from whom families have decided to withdraw life support, the non-heart beating donor (NHBD). These raise a number of important ethical questions including (1) the decision to withdraw life support; (2) the criteria for diagnosis of death; (3) the understanding of irreversibility; and (4) procedures or drugs used to support organ viability rather than to benefit the patient.

This presentation will analyze the difficulties in reconciling NHBD organ donation with Jewish beliefs about the sanctity of life, while recognizing organ donation as an important act of pikuah nefesh (saving a life).

3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

Gwinnett

Pre-Implantation Genetic Haplotyping, Pre-Embryos and Jewish Law

Presenter: Michael Broyde (Emory University School of Law, Atlanta)

Respondent: Analia Bortz (Congregation Or Hadash, Atlanta)

Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis raises issues about when and how pre-embryos ought to be screened for characteristics that parents do or do not desire in their offspring. Based on the author’s understanding of normative Jewish law, this paper will address and present tentative answers to no less than five vital questions: (1) Is a pre-embryo considered a fetus, and are fetuses persons? (2) What type of selection criteria may an individual use in determining which pre-embryos ought to be implanted and which left to die? (3) May pre-embryos be used for research purposes? (4) Should selection criteria for pre-embryos be held to some objective standard as a matter of Jewish law? (5) May society penalize parents who knowingly transmit genetic diseases to their children by refusing to undergo PGD?