Israeli Judge Must Decide if Woman Has ‘right to Die’

An Israeli judge who must decide on a person’s right to reject life-saving medical treatment may find himself in conflict with religious authorities, if he rules in favor of an 84-year-old Tiberias woman who refuses to allow her gangrenous leg to be amputated.

The patient, Ruth Trabelsi, says she prefers to die rather than lose her leg.

Judge Haim Gershon, whose Nazareth District Court has jurisdiction over Tiberias, has ordered state attorneys to quickly prepare an opinion as to whether the woman fully understands the meaning of her decision.

The standoff between patient and doctors led the Poriya Hospital in Tiberias to file charges against Trabelsi.

The so-called “right-to-die” case has generated intense interest in Israel.

According to Dr. Ram Ishai, chairman of the Israel Medical Association, the court can only determine that the patient understands and appreciates the significance of her decision. If she does, then ultimately she has the right to take it, Ishai said.

But Rabbi Yisrael Lau, the Ashkenazic chief rabbi of Tel Aviv, asserted Wednesday that according to halachah (traditional Jewish law), ill persons have no right to prevent their cure.

The rabbi maintained that doctors and society in general have the right to forcibly prevent a patient from committing passive suicide by refusing medical treatment.

Lau said that all halachah needs to ascertain is whether the treatment definitely will save a life that would otherwise be doomed.

Earlier, Trabelsi told the judge and members of her family that “life and death are in the hands of God” and that therefore she would not allow the doctors to cut off the infected limb.

Judge Gershon, who was to have ruled on the case Wednesday, postponed his decision for another day.