Two Orthodox Jewish organizations filed a brief in the case of a brain-dead man whose family wanted to keep him on life support despite doctors’ wishes.
Agudath Israel of America and the Rabbinical Council of America filed an amicus brief Sept. 21 that laid out the case for patient autonomy.
The man, Ruben Betancourt, 73, suffered oxygen deprivation during surgery in March and was declared to be in a persistent vegetative state. The New Jersey Superior Court determined that Betancourt’s daughter had the right to decide her father’s care, a decision the hospital appealed. Betancourt died before the appeal was heard.
The Jewish groups’ brief cites numerous cases in New Jersey and elsewhere in which courts ruled that patients and their families have the right to refuse life-sustaining medical care despite objections from the patient’s health care providers. — jta