High Court ruling tramples over medical ethics

Appeals of PHRI and others against the legality of the force-feeding law were rejected today by a ruling of the High Court of Justice (HCJ).

Appeals of PHRI and others against the legality of the force-feeding law were rejected today by a ruling of the High Court of Justice (HCJ).

In its ruling, the HCJ tramples over medical ethics, and condones harmful legislation that was better left out of our book of laws. In their ruling, the judges showed disregard for international declarations and ethics that prohibit the force-feeding of hunger strikers, a practice that can amount to torture, and relied on a minority position of Israeli ethicists and physicians that support it.

The HCJ expressed great confidence that Israeli judicial system will ensure that force-feeding will not enable oppression, and that the supremacy of the legislation’s medical purpose will always be maintained. This confidence ignores the fact that the court itself – also around the issue of torture – failed in restricting abuses in our security system.

We hope that regardless of this ruling, the medical community in Israel will refrain from cooperating with this law, and will keep acting according to the hippocratic oath and to medical ethics.

Trending NowAll >