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SHUTTING DOWN from page 17
AUDE1TE
www.audettecadillac.com
• Clarify your own values on treat-
ment issues.
• Talk with family, friends, your
rabbi and others knowledgeable in
biomedical ethics.
• Speak with your personal physi-
cian to gain understanding of med-
ical terms relating to your intended
choices, to make certain treatment
preferences are consistent with your
health status and to make sure your
values become known to your care
team.
• Repeat the process if you change
physicians.
• Execute a healthcare directive or
living will, to make clear your prefer-
ences.
BREAK THROUGH
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Mon & Thur, tit 9. Tues..Wed.. Fri. til 6
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Appoint A Guardian
"A living will written in 2005 will, in
all probability, not be very useful in 30
years," said Rabbi E.B. "Bunny"
Freedman, executive director of
Detroit's Jewish Hospice and
Chaplaincy Network.
He suggests appointing, "a loving
person you trust to be your legal, sur-
rogate, medical proxy, to make those
decisions if you cannot.
"All that was here to help sustain life
75 years ago was what was in the doc-
tor's little black bag," Rabbi Freedman
said. "Now there are multiple ways of
keeping someone alive. We can't possi-
bly predict the situation our medical
care system will be in at the time of
the end of our life."
Rabbi Nevins' advice includes several
recommendations. "I urge all members
of our community to appoint a health
care proxy, to fill out an advanced
directive and to discuss with loved ones
what types of therapy they would want
in various circumstances," he said.
In addition to allowing the patient
to receive the care they would want,
he said, "This can help unite a family
rather than divide it in difficult cir-
cumstances, such as that of Terri and
her family."
❑
Joanne Palmer of the JTA contributed to
this story.
For a related opinion piece by Rabbi
Shmuley Boteach, see page 28.
Making A Living Will
NK SHOW
URSDAY & FRIDAY, APRIL 7 & 8
3/31
2005
18
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Information on creating a living will within the halachic interpretations of
the different streams of Judaism are available.
• Conservative: "Jewish Medical Directives for Health Care" (The
Rabbinical Assembly, 1994, Rabbi Aaron L. Mackler, editor), a booklet
containing forms for a health care proxy and living will. Write to the
United Synagogue Book Service, 155 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010.
Cost is $4.
• Orthodox: "Halachic Living Will", prepared by Agudath Israel of
America, may be downloaded, with Michigan legal inclusion at
www. jlaw.com/Forms/lwdocs/MichiganHalachicLivingWill.pdf The
Orthodox Union has numerous forms available on its Web site, including
living wills and health care proxies customized to conform to both Jewish
law and state law. To access the forms, go to w -ww.jlaw.com/forms/.
• Reform: A bio-ethics study guide, "Living Will-Medical Directives."
Order by mail from the Department of Jewish Family Concerns, Union
for Reform Judaism, 633 Third Ave., New York, NY 10017, or by calling
(212) 650-4294. Cost: $3/URJ members; $5/non-members. For more
information, access the Web site at urj.org/jfc/resources/ . Also, "A Time to
Prepare" (Rabbi Richard F. Address, editor, New York: UAHC Press,
1994), a guide for determining extraordinary medical treatment and mak-
ing financial arrangements, also contains various detachable forms for
end-of-life planning. To obtain a copy, access the Web site at uahcweb.org
or call (800) 368-1090. Cost is $6.95. ❑