Lost in the extensive media coverage of Mario Cuomo’s recent death was mention of one of the former governor’s most enduring achievements: the New York state biomedical Task Force on Life and the Law.
During his first term as governor, Cuomo established the 25-member task force because he was concerned that as developments in medical technology and science accelerated, neither society nor state government was prepared for the critical decisions required in the face of such rapid change.
Cuomo’s instruction to the task force was to study the new frontier of bioethics and make specific public policy recommendations for state lawmakers.
The task force included Christian and Jewish clergy, physicians, nurses, lawyers, ethicists, philosophers, academics, social workers, community leaders, and hospital administrators.
I was a founding member of the task force in 1985. During that time, I recognized that some long-held beliefs must be updated, reinterpreted or sometimes even abandoned in the face of medical advances.
Cuomo wanted us to focus on the right of patients to informed consent about their medical conditions. At his urging, we dealt with a series of critical concerns, including the legal definition of death, balancing patients’ rights and the state’s interests.
One result of the task force’s efforts was to shift the center of the medical universe to the patient — something that especially pleased the three-term New York governor.
That change in emphasis allowed for the passage of patients’ Do Not Resuscitate orders in cases of cardiac arrest; the creation of patient health care proxies (medical powers of attorney); the drafting of laws related to surrogate parenting, the status of unused frozen human embryos (the result of in vitro fertilization), medically assisted suicides and embryonic stem-cell research; and processes for determining the safety of certain popular food and dietary supplements.
One issue high on the task force’s agenda was the need to determine when a person is legally considered dead. In many instances it is a complex question, especially if a patient is kept “alive” by mechanical means — ventilators and respirators.
The definition of death is particularly important in cases of a possible organ transplant. When is it legally and medically permitted to remove a heart or other vital organs from a person for use by another human being?
Cuomo opposed those who sought preferential treatment in waiting for an organ transplant. He deplored the rich and/or famous celebrities who demanded a place at the front of the organ replacement queue.
In Jewish tradition, it is assumed that death has occurred when a person’s breathing stops. When that happens, the body must remain untouched for eight minutes to guarantee that breathing, pulse and heart have ceased functioning.
But what happens if a patient’s functions continue as the result of highly sophisticated life-support systems? Is such a person alive or dead? After a thoughtful study including an analysis of various religious traditions, the task force determined that in New York state, death occurs when there is irreversible brain stem damage, a condition that can only be determined by modern medical tests.
Cuomo will likely be remembered for many remarkable political achievements, but the enduring success of the task force he created 30 years ago still remains one of the crown jewels and the standard by which similar efforts in the other 49 states must ultimately be judged.
Rabbi A. James Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of “Cushing, Spellman, O’Connor: The Surprising Story of How Three American Cardinals Transformed Catholic-Jewish Relations.” Via RNS.
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