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CQ Interview with Heleen M. Dupuis: Actively Ending the Life of a Severely Handicapped Newborn: A Dutch Ethicist's Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2009

Heleen M. Dupuis
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Extract

CQ: The Baby Bas Ross case stirred much public debate in The Netherlands since 1988 -a newborn infant with Down's syndrome whose parents refused to consent to a surgery that would have repaired an otherwise fatal congenital anomaly. Can you share your thoughts with us on this case?

HD: I was the first ethicist to comment on this case because I was a friend of Dr. Molenaar, who was the final surgical decision maker for Baby Bas. A physician and I supported his decision throughout the prosecution that followed. We also summarized the case in the N.T.V.G., the Dutch Magazine of Medicine. We argued In the article that parents should have the option to make nontreatment decisions. Moreover, In cases where the physician has to perform aggressive medical interventions, there certainly must be thorough and sound justification to ensure that the decision to Intervene Is in the best interest of the child.

Type
Special Section: From Cells to Selves: Ethics at the Beginning of Life
Information
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics , Volume 2 , Issue 3 , Summer 1993 , pp. 275 - 280
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

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References

Notes

1. Shaw, M. When does treatment constitute a harm? In: Euthanasia and the Newborn. Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987.Google Scholar