Eileen Beth Kramer - Life Support Lawsuit Centers on Whether Patient Is Orthodox Jew

Samuel Kahn, the director of Hebrew Academy for Special Children, a New York organization that cares for people with special needs, is suing to keep one of his organization’s patients, Eileen Beth Kramer, on life support at Maimonides Medical Center.  (Times of Israel)



Kramer’s legal guardian, brother Howard Kramer, considered removing her from a ventilator.  But Kahn claims that removing Kramer, 60, from her life support would violate her religious beliefs.  



Kahn admits that Kramer may have followed the Hebrew Academy's rules.  But he contends that she could not have held deeply religious beliefs because of her disability. "She does not have any concept of what religion is. . . .  She doesn’t have the intellectual capability [to understand religion]."



After a first hearing in the Brooklyn Supreme Court on Sept. 18, Judge Larry Martin had issued a temporary restraining order on removing the ventilator.  A second hearing in the case was held Tuesday before the same judge, whose decision is underway.