Proposed Law to Define Death According to Religious Beliefs

Legislation to provide protection for New York State residents who, according to their religious beliefs, including specifically observant Jews, hold that death occurs when the heart ceases to function, has been introduced in the new session of the State Legislature.

The legislation was introduced by Assemblyman Sheldon Silver (D. Man.), according to Dennis Rapps, executive director of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA). Rapps said COLPA and Silver cooperated in preparing the planned legislation.

Rapps said the legislation was stimulated by a recent decision of the New York State Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, which held that “brain death” constitutes death under the state’s penal law.

Rapps said the proposed legislation was designed to deal with situations in which attending doctors might be involved in decisions on whether or not to prolong the lives of patients by use of such means as life-support systems, a situation becoming increasingly frequent and increasingly controversial as medical technology provides new means of prolonging lives.

The proposed law provides that, in making such decisions, doctors “cannot employ a definition of death that will be contrary to the religious affairs or practices of the individual as earlier announced by the individual, or as attested to by a family member, or friend, or as otherwise indicated.”

The legal definition of death in New York State is based on a common law approach that death is death is determined by cessation of heart function, as observant Jews and others believe as a matter of faith.

Rapps said that the Appeals Court ruling had been viewed in some segments of the legal community as having expanded the legal definition of death in New York State to include brain death.

Rapps said the primary goal of the legislation was to provide reassurance to those who consider ending of heart function as a determinant of death.

He said the measure had been discussed with a number of State Senators who have indicated interest in supporting it and that a Senate sponsor will be named shortly. New York legislative procedures require that identical bills be introduced and passed in each house. He said the measure is being introduced as an amendment to the New York State Public Health Law.