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7 Health Matrix 65 (1997)
Jewish Theological and Moral Reflections on Genetic Screening: The Case of BRCA1

handle is hein.journals/hmax7 and id is 71 raw text is: JEWISH THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL REFLECTIONS ON GENETIC SCREENING: THE CASE OF BRCA11 Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, Ph.D.' INTRODUCTION WITH THE ADVANCE OF GENETIC screening proce- dures, it has become possible to identify genes responsible for a number of diseases. Although it is hoped that one day it will be possible to cure such diseases through genetic engineering applied in utero, that is not yet a reality. As a result, the only possibilities we have are the following: 1) to abort the affected fetus; 2) to allow the fetus to go to term and then deal with the disease in whatever ways we can (which, of course, varies with the disease); or 3) not to do such screenings altogether so as not to tempt those involved to abort. The responses to these three possibilities vary not only among religions, but in fact, within any given religion authori- ties may and do differ. Furthermore, how a particular authority I. I would like to thank Professor Thomas Murray, Professor and Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics of Case Western University for involving me in this project and for supplying me with articles on the BRCA1 mutation associated with cancer. The following Judaic scholarly and biblical sources were utilized by the author. Mishnah (version edited c. 200 C.E.); Tosefta (version edited c. 200 C.E.); Jerusalem Talmud (version edited c. 400 C.E.); Babylonian Talmud (version edited c. 500 C.E.); MAIMONIDES' MISHNEH TORAH (completed 1177 C.E.); and JOSEPH KARO'S SHULHAM ARUKH (completed 1565 C.E.). Note on sources with no published English translation available: All sources that were unavailable in English were individually translated by the author, a scholar in Judaic Studies. While opinions may differ as to exact translation of such texts, Rabbi Dorff's interpretations and translations are deferred to for purposes of this Article. t Jewish Theological Seminary of America, ordained as Conservative rabbi, 1970; Ph.D. philosophy, Columbia University, 1971. Rabbi Dorff serves as Rector and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, and is Vice-Chair of the Conservative Movement's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. In spring 1993, he served on the Ethics Committee of President Clinton's Health Care Task Force.

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