Are some babies really too sick to be allowed to live? Some supporters of euthanasia say so, and advocate for not just withdrawing treatment but for actively ending the life of severely disabled infants. Doctors in the Netherlands have
admitted to illegally killing babies with severe mental retardation, spina bifida, and prematurity, and now British doctors are considering the same issues, with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists
calling for an open debate on the subject. Among the
reasons given for considering euthanasia in these circumstances is sparing families the financial and emotional expense of raising these children. So let's add our voices to the debate: Do you think euthanasia should be allowed for newborns with severe disabilities? Pick an answer from the poll at right, and present your arguments in the comments.
Why should euthanasia be allowed only for disabled babies? Where should the line be drawn? Who will decide what is a disability? Every year thousands of women think that Down Syndrome is so a severe disability they choose to abort their babies with DS. At the same time children with DS are denied services because they are not disabled enough. If we are going to allow it (not that it doesn’t already happen) let’s at least be honest with the reasons why; people are selfish, they don’t think they can handle dealing with a person with a disability for a lifetime, people are cheap, they don’t think they should spend money on someone unless they are going to be of some value- to produce something- later in life. I don’t think that all people should have their baby with a disability- I have met parents who are bitter and disappointed and should not be raising a child with a disability. But, who gets to decide the value of another human being? I think there is value in just being here. Everyone is making some kind of contribution, the parents job is to try to see that and appreciate it. Also, what happens if the perfect baby gets hit by a bus at age seven and left severely disabled, do we euthenize him?
no i don’t think they should kill people with problems. i have spina bifida and i am also autistic and i think it’s horriable that any parent would be so mean as to not let their child experiance life. i love life and i live it to the fullest. what would have happened if that was legal and my parents said ok, shes stupid so we will just kill her? i wouldn’t be here enjoying life.
Please all of you understand the meaning of the word compassion. If you don’t look it up in the dictionary or on google. Then sit down and ask yourself- how would i like it if i was born profoundly disabled and then spent my entire life being hated and persecuted because of my disability.
Wait … Sheila, are you suggesting that the way to deal with hatred and persecution is to kill the people who will be hated and persecuted? Why not call for those who hate and persecute to show compassion instead?
Merriam-Webster online defines compassion as “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” I think that word “consciousness” is a challenge — it calls us not to just imagine what we think we might feel if we were that individual (especially if our imagining leads to alleviating suffering by ending a life), but to take the time and trouble to understand how people with disabilities feel about their own lives and rights. For some consciousness raising on the value of lives many would dismiss, I recommend the websites Not Dead Yet and Ragged Edge, and the books Forced Exit and The Power of the Powerless.