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State Legislation and the Handicapped Newborn: A Moral and Political Dilemma

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2021

Eric Feldman  and
Thomas H. Murray
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Extract

The treatment of severely handicapped newborns was, for a long time, an issue of concern only to medical practitioners and involved parents. Recently, however, it has drawn the interest of a much broader constituency. Philosophers, lawyers, politicians, and the clergy, as well as public interest groups, are but a few of the groups enmeshed in the controversy over whether all handicapped infants must be treated aggressively, regardless of their physical or mental condition. Similarly, the dispute has expanded beyond academic journals and medical rhetoric. The United States Department of Health and Human Services has issued several versions of regulations concerning the care of handicapped infants (the latest proposing voluntary Infant Care Review Committees to supplement federal and state review mechanisms).

Type
Article
Information
Law, Medicine and Healthcare , Volume 12 , Issue 4 , September 1984 , pp. 156 - 163
Copyright
© 1984 American Society of Law, Medicine & Ethics

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References

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