HS 20 Weir
Lesson 8
Religious & Cultural Beliefs Affecting Health Care Issues
1) Organ Donation
 Many cultures/religions are ______________________ of the idea of organ donation:
 Catholicism, Christianity, Judaism, Muslim, Buddhism for example not only permit
donation but _________________ it.
 However, there are some religious groups that are opposed: _________________
 A __________________ religion incorporating the worship of ancestors and nature
spirits and a belief in sacred power in both animate and inanimate things.
 It was the state religion of Japan until 1945.
 In Shinto, the dead body is considered impure and dangerous, and thus quite
powerful.
 ________________ a dead body is a serious crime.
 It is difficult to get consent from families for organ donation or dissection
 Shinto’s consider __________________ to be injuring a dead body.
2) Euthanasia
 The painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an
irreversible coma. (This practice is __________________ in most countries)
 “Death is one of the most important things that religions deal with. All faiths offer
meaning and explanations for death and dying; all faiths try to find a place for death and
dying within human experience.”
Jack Kevorkian is a doctor who became famous for being a pathologist who assisted people suffering from acute medical
conditions in ending their lives. Kevorkian's actions spurred national debate on the ethics of euthanasia and hospice care.
Kevorkian created a suicide machine he called the "Thanatron" (Greek for "Instrument of Death") which he assembled out
of $45 worth of materials. The Thanatron consisted of three bottles that delivered successive doses of fluids: first a saline
solution, followed by a painkiller and, finally, a fatal dose of the poison potassium chloride. Using Kevorkian's design,
patients who were ill could even administer the lethal dose of poison themselves. At first this idea was highly rejected but
Jack Kevorkian would become infamous in 1990, when he assisted in the suicide of Janet Adkins, a 54-year-old Alzheimer's
patient. Kevorkian agreed to assist her in a public park, inside his Volkswagen van. Kevorkian attached the IV, and Adkins
administered her own painkiller and then the poison. Within five minutes, Adkins died of heart failure. When the news hit
media outlets, Kevorkian became a national celebrity…….. and criminal.

The State of Michigan immediately charged Kevorkian with Adkins' murder. The case was later dismissed, however,
due to Michigan's indecisive stance on assisted suicide. In 1991, Michigan suspended Jack Kevorkian's
medical
HS 20 Weir
Lesson
8
license but this didn't stop the doctor from continuing to assist with suicides. Unable to gather the medications
needed to use the Thanatron, Kevorkian assembled a new machine, called the Mercitron. This machine delivered
carbon monoxide through a gas mask. The following year, the Michigan Legislature passed a bill outlawing assisted
suicide. Kevorkian was jailed twice that year. He was bailed out by successfully arguing that a person may not be
found guilty of criminally assisting a suicide if they administered medication with the "intent to relieve pain and
suffering," even it if did increase the risk of death. In 1998, the Michigan legislature enacted a law making assisted
suicide a felony punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence or a $10,000 fine. They also closed the
loophole that allowed for Kevorkian's previous acquittals. Yet Kevorkian continued to assist patients. He even let
the popular TV show “60 Minutes” show a recorded tape of him performing assisted suicide on a patient. Kevorkian
spoke to 60 Minutes reporters and dared the courts to pursue him legally. On March 26, 1999 Jack Kevorkian was
convicted of second-degree murder and the illegal delivery of a controlled substance. That April, he was sentenced
to 25 years in prison with the possibility of parole. During the next three years, Kevorkian attempted to pursue the
conviction in appeals court. His request was refused. Lawyers representing Kevorkian sought to bring the case to
the U.S. Supreme Court, but that request was also declined. On June 1, 2007, after serving a little more than eight
years of his sentence, Kevorkian was released from prison on good behavior. The former doctor also promised not
to assist in any more suicides. In 2008, Kevorkian announced plans to run as an independent candidate for a seat in
U.S. Congress representing Michigan. Though he didn't win the election, he did earn 2.6% of the vote. There is a
movie called “You Don’t Know Jack” profiling his life. In 2011, at the age of 83, Jack Kevorkian died at Beaumont
Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan. http://www.biography.com/people/jack-kevorkian-9364141
Buddhism
Christianity
_________________
Hinduism
Islam
Judaism
Not supported ; life is given by God
The Roman Catholic church regards euthanasia as morally
wrong
There are two Hindu views on euthanasia:
a) By helping to end a painful life a person is
performing a ______________________
b) Causes the soul and body to be separated at an
unnatural time. The result will damage
the _____________ of both doctor and patient.
Euthanasia is not supported. However, doctors can stop
trying to prolong life in cases where there is no hope of a
cure.
Jewish law ____________ active euthanasia and regards it
as murder. There are no exceptions to this rule
HS 20 Weir
Lesson 8
3) Autopsy
 An ______________________________________________ to discover the cause of
death or the extent of disease.
 Most religions and cultures find autopsies ____________________
 Certain religions outright _____________ (eg. Islam and Judaism)
Christianity, Jehovah’s Witness,
Buddhishm
Hinduism
Have no intrinsic objection to autopsies, but
their belief is that all organs must be returned to
the body
Sikhism
Are not opposed to autopsies as long as it does
not ___________ the funeral
Islam & Judaism
Strictly opposed - bodily intrusion violates
beliefs about the sanctity of keeping the human
body complete
4) Abortion
 The deliberate ____________________________________________________________
 Most often performed during the first ____ weeks of pregnancy.
Buddhism
Catholicism
Islam
Would be seen as an act of killing
However, if the pregnancy caused a risk to
the life of the mother or the baby had a
serious disability then an abortion would be
seen as the most ethical thing to do
Abortion willed either as an end or means,
is gravely contrary to the moral law
Is considered wrong and is forbidden.
But if the motherʼs life is at ________ by
pregnancy then abortion is permitted (her
life is considered more significant than the
embryo’s)
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Lesson 8
Orthodox Judaism ______________ abortion
only in cases where continuing with the
pregnancy would put the motherʼs life at risk.
Judaism
5) Contraception
 The deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques to ______________________

The major forms of artificial contraception are barrier methods:
 Condoms; birth control; male or female sterilization.
 Some religions do not agree with the use of contraceptives as they believe it should
happen ___________________ and not be artificially inhibited.
Buddhism
-
Catholicism
Islam
Judaism
Contraception that prevents fertilization is not
ordinarily a problem
However if it prevents the development of an
already fertilized egg it is
_______________________.
The Catholic Church sees effective family planning
as “reliable knowledge of the cycle of female fertility
and a willingness to abstain from sexual union at
certain times.”
All forms of contraception are
___________________ in special circumstances (if a
woman is still breastfeeding)
Jewish law states that a ______ may not use any form
of contraception. However, there is no mention of
females and contraception
6) Cadavers
Navajo
Muslim
Believe that when a person dies, the “good” part of the
person leaves with the spirit, while the “evil” part stays
with the physical body. Touching the body after death
could have harmful consequences
Believe that dissecting desecrates the body. After someone dies,
it is also important to bury the body as soon as possible; this
does not leave time to study the corpse
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Lesson 8
**Note: Navajo = American Indian people of New Mexico and Arizona
7) Blood Transfusions

Although _________________________________________________________ to the
acceptance of blood transfusions Jehovah’s Witnesses are not allowed.

Even if needed to save a person's life, blood transfusions, must not be accepted.
Acts 15:29 "That ye abstain from blood..."