T he dilemma surround-ing the issue of infanticide of severely defec-tive infants has arisen
because of medical advances over the past quarter century or so which allow physicians to …

One of the most perplexing dilemmas of modern medicine concerns whether" ordinary" 1
medical care justifiably can be withheld from defective newborns. Infants with malformations …

The subject is approached from the standpoint of the debates and events of the" Baby Doe
era," from 1982 to 1985. Historic episodes of mass infanticide and practices in other cultures …

Suffering patients (when able), grieving families and compassionate physicians have always
sought the least detrimental alternative while deciding care in the face of tragedy. Modern …

Among those who have defended a policy of selective non-treatmentof defective newborns,
none have been as forceful or direct in stating and defending their views as have Duff and …

The incidence of mortality in low birth weight newborns is severe. A study undertaken in the
early 1960s at Toronto's Hospital for Sick Children revealed that the low birth weight …

Every year, thousands of parents in the United States decide to withhold or withdraw
medical care needed to keep their severely defective newborns alive.'Some of these infants …

Advances in medical technology, discoveries in pharmacology, and developments in bio-
engineering have made it possible for the modem physician to save and/or sustain the lives …

Ethical issues are examined that involve withholding medical treatment from severely
handicapped infants. Although current laws do not sanction euthanasia, severely …

The author, who received his doctorate in philosophy from Duke University in 1972, is
associate professor of religious studies and chairman of the division of humanities at …