This book takes as its subject the intensely private discussions that arise when ordinary people confront life and death choices and struggle with decisions in a world of medical and scientific complexity. Laurie Zoloth began her work in bioethics in a large public California hospital system, where she was part of a group tasked with the creation of an ethics committee in every hospital in the system, that would hear hundreds of cases every year, including pediatric cases from the hospital's intensive care, neonatal intensive care, burn, and oncology units. The book explores the dilemmas presented in these cases and reflects on the competing, often incommensurate moral appeals offered by the participants. It then analyzes the cases against and with similar concepts within Jewish thought, using rabbinic texts to make legible the factors at play as one makes ethical judgments. This philosophical position is feminist as it considers and at times advocates for the inclusion of family and community in the rationale of the clinical setting. Intertwined with legal statements in the Talmud are aggadot, or midrashic texts, literary narratives used to argue a point, or to complicate a point, or to deepen the meaning of the communal discourse, adding history, case studies, or fictive tales to the discussion. Zoloth argues that these texts can be usefully applied to problems in bioethics. She develops the case for a textual turn that is fully imagined and enriched by the many possible re-interpretations of narrative: biblical, rabbinic, medieval, modern, and post-modern.

Oncofertility has emerged as a way to address potential lost or impaired fertility in cancer patients and survivors, with active biomedical research that is developing new ways to help these individuals preserve their ability to have biological children. In order to move beyond oncofertility as a science and medical technology and begin to address the ethical, legal, and social ramifications of this emerging field, we must give voice to scholars from the humanities and social sciences to engage in a multidisciplinary discussion. This book brings together a pool of experts from a variety of fields, including communication, economics, ethics, history, law, religion, and sociology, to examine the complex issues raised by recent developments in oncofertility and to offer advice from national and international perspectives as we create new technology. Given the inherent interdisciplinary nature of oncofertility, this book is not only valuable, but also necessary to cultivate a deep understanding of new issues with the eventual aim of offering proposals for addressing them. Indeed, this book will be useful for people not only within the humanities and social sciences disciplines but also for those who are confronted with cancer and the possibility of impaired fertility and the medical practitioners within oncology and reproductive medicine who are at the front lines of this emerging field.

Oncofertility has emerged as a way to address potential lost or impaired fertility in cancer patients and survivors, with active biomedical research that is developing new ways to help these individuals preserve their ability to have biological children. In order to move beyond oncofertility as a science and medical technology and begin to address the ethical, legal, and social ramifications of this emerging field, we must give voice to scholars from the humanities and social sciences to engage in a multidisciplinary discussion. This book brings together a pool of experts from a variety of fields, including communication, economics, ethics, history, law, religion, and sociology, to examine the complex issues raised by recent developments in oncofertility and to offer advice from national and international perspectives as we create new technology. Given the inherent interdisciplinary nature of oncofertility, this book is not only valuable, but also necessary to cultivate a deep understanding of new issues with the eventual aim of offering proposals for addressing them. Indeed, this book will be useful for people not only within the humanities and social sciences disciplines but also for those who are confronted with cancer and the possibility of impaired fertility and the medical practitioners within oncology and reproductive medicine who are at the front lines of this emerging field.

The last several years have seen a sharpening of debate in the United States regarding the problem of steadily increasing medical expenditures, as well as inflation in health care costs, a scarcity of health care resources, and a lack of access for a growing number of people in the national health care system. Some observers suggest that we in fact face two crises: the crisis of scarce resources and the crisis of inadequate language in the discourse of ethics for framing a response. Laurie Zoloth offers a bold claim: to renew our chances of achieving social justice, she argues, we must turn to the Jewish tradition. That tradition envisions an ethics of conversational encounter that is deeply social and profoundly public, as well as offering resources for recovering a language of community that addresses the issues raised by the health care allocation debate. Constructing her argument around a careful analysis of selected classic and postmodern Jewish texts and a thoughtful examination of the Oregon health care reform plan, Zoloth encourages a radical rethinking of what has become familiar ground in debates on social justice. |In order to move current disputes over the allocation of health care resources to an equitable solution, this book advocates a return to the principles of Jewish teachings regarding community and the ethics of conversational encounter.

Well aware of Jews having once been the victims of Nazi eugenics policies, many Jews today have an ambivalent attitude toward new genetics and are understandably wary of genetic forms of identity and intervention. At the same time, the Jewish tradition is strongly committed to medical research designed to prevent or cure diseases. Jews and Genes explores this tension against the backdrop of various important developments in genetics and bioethics-new advances in stem cell research; genetic mapping, identity, testing, and intervention; and the role of religion and ethics in shaping public policy. Jews and Genes brings together leaders in their fields, from all walks of Judaism, to explore these most timely and intriguing topics-the intricacies of the genetic code and the wonders of life, along with cutting-edge science and the ethical issues it raises.

Discussions and debates over the medical use of stem cells and cloning have always had a religious component. But there are many different religious voices. This anthology on how religious perspectives can inform the difficult issues of stem cell research and human cloning is essential to the discussion. Contributors reflect the spectrum of Christian responses, from liberal Protestant to evangelical to Roman Catholic. The noted moral philosopher, Laurie Zoloth, offers a Jewish approach to cloning, and Sondra Wheeler contributes her perspective on both Jewish and Christian understandings of embryonic stem cell research.

In addition to the discussions found here, "God and the Embryo" includes a series of official statements on stem cell research and cloning from religious bodies, including the Roman Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church in America, the United Methodist Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the United Church of Christ, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the Rabbinical Council of America. "Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry," from the statement of the President's Council on Bioethics, concludes the book.

The debates and the discussions will continue, but for anyone interested in the nuances of religious perspectives that make their important contributions to these ethically challenging and important dialectics, "God and the Embryo" is an invaluable resource.