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onbabies How AI technology is helping to bring Jewish the into the world A Discussion Hosted by PUAH: THE LAUNCH OF PUAH’S Where Reproductive Technology and Halacha Meet FLOR By Gila Arnold
As Torah Jews, we are instructed to enjoy the blessings of this world, within the parameters of halacha. Yet while we know where to turn to determine if our food is kosher, how do we know about the kashrus of a cutting-edge medical technology? That’s where PUAH comes in. “For me, the biggest privilege in working for PUAH – as meaningful as it is to help bring Jewish babies into the world – is the opportunity to see the eternal wisdom of Hashem’s Torah,” says Lea Davidson, executive director of PUAH USA. “Every time a new technology comes out and our PUAH rabbanim find exactly where this case is discussed in our halachic literature, I’m inspired all over again.” Discovering halachically acceptable ways to use complex medical technologies is exactly why PUAH was founded. When the first IVF baby was born in 1978, the assumption in the Torah-observant world was that the serious halachic issues posed by this revolutionary technology made it forbidden. But Rav Mordechai Eliyahu ztz”l insisted that if Hashem gave us the wisdom to develop a technology, it’s our job to research it and determine how it may be used in a halachically-acceptable way. He charged his close talmid, Rav Menachem Burstein, shlita, with this task. Thus, PUAH was born – opening the door for thousands of Jewish couples to
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benefit from IVF and other reproductive medical advances. Of Genomes and Artificial Intelligence Fertility medicine has advanced in astounding leaps since then. Today, PUAH’s place on the cutting edge of medical technology and halacha is more vital than ever. Take the following scenario: A couple meets with their fertility doctor to discuss the results of the genetic analysis of their embryos. The healthiest embryo has been identified, but after sequencing its entire genome, they’ve discovered that their daughter will develop rheumatoid arthritis at age 40. Should the doctor edit out this gene? Such a scenario is only a few years from reality, according to Dr. Alan Copperman, FACOG, Managing Director and CEO of RMA
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of New York. And when that day comes, the many ethical and halachic dilemmas arising from the ability to edit one’s child’s genetic makeup will make PUAH’s unique expertise even more essential. While the above case is still hypothetical, the following is happening every day in clinics across the country. A couple comes to a fertility clinic to consult with a medical specialist. They relate their history: three years married, two miscarriages, no babies. They look at the doctor anxiously. Is there hope? He listens carefully, asks questions, and enters the information into his computer. The machine runs the data through its system, analyzing every facet of this couple’s medical background, and spits out a response. “Here’s your customized treatment protocol,” says the doctor.