POINT
COUNTERPOINT
Stop The Deceit In
Proposal B Campaign
Assisted Suicide
Short-Circuits Compassion
I
IV
• The illness must be terminal
n a perfect world, death, when
and
incurable.
it appears, would come quietly
• The attending physician and a
and peacefully, without pain
specialist in the patient's disease
or anguish or distress. It
must concur on the propriety of the
would be a tribute to the preceding
decision.
decades of life.
• A psychiatrist must determine
But this is not a perfect world.
that neither depression
Each year in the U.S., about
nor mental illness is the
70,000 people die slowly, in a
primary
cause of the
protracted agony, without any
request for termination.
hope of recovery or relief.
• A minimum of one
Hospice care and pain-reliev-
week's
delay is required to
ing medicine offer excellent
give
the
patient an oppor-
end-of-life assistance, but for
tunity
to
reconsider.
some dying patients, they do
Alternatives
of hos-
•
not work. For some patients
pice
care
and
pain
relief
approaching death, there is no
must
be
fully
explained.
ROBERT
G.
legal alternative to constant
• The law and the
FABER
and unbearable agony — no
actions
of participating
Special to
relief from the pain of dying
doctors
will be subject to
The Jewish News
except death.
ongoing
review by an
Proposal B offers an alter-
oversight
committee rep-
native. By legalizing physician-assist-.
resenting
Michigan's
medical schools
ed suicide, available within carefully
and
medical
societies
and the lay
defined parameters and buffered by
community.
tightly controlled safeguards, Pro-
It is a complex issue on which
posal B would offer an end-of-life
people of good will, seeking wisdom
alternative to patients tortured by
and resolution, may disagree. Unfor-
dying who request such an out. To
tunately, Right to Life's television
qualify for such assistance:
sound-byte campaign so clouds the
• The request must originate with
controversy with dishonest frag-
the patient.
ments of fact that they do a serious
• The patient must be a mentally
disservice to the thoughtful oppo-
competent adult.
nents of the proposal who are trying
Robert G. Faber is editorial director of to reach a sensible conclusion. They
Merian's Friends, a Northville-based,
have redirected their campaign from
nonprofit group firmed to legalize physi-
the mind to the gut, concentrating
cian aid in dying for terminally ill,
POINT on page 42
mentally competent adults.
life that is ebbing away. This takes
hen I sat down to write
time and effort. Shortening the
about why I oppose
process
through assisted suicide will
assisted suicide, and why
short-circuit
this important process.
I oppose Proposal B, I
People
often
ask how I can work
went to my files and found a piece I
for
a
hospice
and
witness death day in
had written shortly after I started hos-
and
day
out.
What
they don't realize is
pice work.
how
rewarding
it is to see
It was full of passages from
people
care
for
their
loved
the Bible and Talmud, all the
ones
with
unstinting
devo-
references to Jewish law that
tion,
often
interrupting
the •
prohibit intentionally ending
routine
of
their
daily
lives
a life, our own or anyone
to devote themselves entire-
else's. Those arguments are
ly to a dying family mem-
still relevant, but I don't think
ber. This has inspired me
Halachah will convince the
and taught me about the
voting public that assisted
limitless nature of human
suicide is wrong.
RABBI
E.B.
compassion.
Since I wrote that article
In Jewish tradition, corn-
(BUNNY)
seven years ago, I've spent
passion
extended to the
FREEDMAN
untold hours at the bedside of
dead
and
dying is called
Special
to
dying patients, comforting
chesed
shel
emes. It literally
The
Jewish
News
them and their families. I
means
"true
lovingkind-
have learned from them there
ness,"
because
such actions
are other reasons, perhaps even more
are
undertaken
without
any
expecta-
compelling reasons, why we as a soci-
tion
they
will
be
reciprocated.
Accord-
ety should not sanction the intention-
ing
to
Jewish
tradition,
this
defines
al hastening of death.
and sets the standard for all human
The dying experience is emotional-
compassion.
ly painful, but it can be enriching as
I once saw a wife, a daughter and a
well. Facing death and extending care
grandchild
all climb into bed together
to our family members gives us an
to
embrace
a man who was dying. He
unprecedented opportunity to demon-
was
in
a
coma
and could not return
strate our love. I've seen caregivers
their
embrace.
But his grandchild was
come to a new self-awareness about
learning
about
unconditional love and
why they love and why they value the
the bonds of family.
Rabbi E.B. (Bunny) Freedman is
I've seen so much growth, so much
director of Jewish Hospice Services for
spiritual healing, so much unre-
the Southfield-based Hospice of Michi-
COUNTERPOINT on page 44
gan and Jewish Family Service.
LETTERS
labels and discover once and for all
the people who are dedicated to their
community, their people and to public
service.
Call the candidates and invite them
into your homes for coffee. The bot-
tom line is that it is our job to get to
know them, their issues and their
plans to make our community a better
place.
Daniel J. Cherrin
West Bloomfield
Arrogance
In Attitude
I read the article about Tom Friedman
("Beyond Beirut" Oct. 1 6) with dis-
dain for Mr. Friedman.
Mr. Friedman claims that because
Israel has one of the largest, most
= 10/30
1998
1967, namely strategic depth, ironical-
sophisticated air forces in the world, it
ly make the possibility of Israel losing
has the power to shape its own future
a future war more likely rather than
and, thus, the Oslo Accords were a
less likely.
good deal for Israel. I describe Mh
Finally, Mr. Friedman's
Friedman's position as arro-
position is based upon the
gance of power.
same naive argument that
The position of Mr.
if the Arab countries are
Friedman, and those who
more interested with inte-
agree with the Oslo
grating into the global
Accords, is that Israel will
economy, they will be
win any war against the
more interested in making
Arabs. While this has cer-
money than making trou-
tainly been true, although
ble. The problem with this
at great cost to Israel —
argument is that of 22
including losing 1 percent
Arab
countries, only one is
of the population in the
interested
in integrating
War of independence alone
Tom Friedman
into the global economy
— it is arrogant and naive
rather tha n making trouble — Turkey.
to assume Israel can win every war in
The other s wish to isolate themselves
the future.
Indeed, the Oslo Accords, by giving from the global economy and make
trouble.
up what Israel had enjoyed since
The simple fact is there is only one
Arabic democracy, Turkey. The other
Arab countries, thus, would be unaf-
fected by "integrating into the global la
economy." Indeed, the countries
would become wealthy, but the bene-
fits would not filter down to the citi-
zens of the country.
I feel sorry for Mr. Friedman when
he says, "The criterion for giving to
Israel shouldn't be that it is beating up
some Arab country because they make
you feel so good that they are winning
a war." Mr. Friedman knows Israel has
always been at a 3-to-1 disadvantage
in weaponry and manpower to sur-
rounding Arab states. Indeed, Mr.
Friedman's view that Israel beats up on
Arab countries is not only inaccurate,
it is pathetic.
Adam J. Baker
Farmington Hills 111