Earlier this week, a
daily poll looked at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' call for an open debate on the "mercy killing" of babies with poor prognoses and asked, "Should euthanasia be allowed for severely disabled newborns?" As of this writing, the results are about 60-40 against, but there are enough votes on the "yes" or "maybe" side to suggest further questions, such as: "Who should decide if a severely disabled baby should die?" Should doctors be able to make the decision independently? How about nurses, or other medical personnel? Must a hospital ethics board be involved? Should parents be able to either request or deny an end to their child's life? Do you believe that only God should decide, or that nature should be allowed to take its course? Pick as many choices as you agree with from the poll at right, and continue the debate in the comments. Two articles from disabled writers to consider in your deliberations:
"The Lines That Say It All" from Ragged Edge Online, and
"The Duty to Die for Disabled Infants" from the blog Did I Miss Something? If you've read something good on this topic, on either side, please share the link in the comments, too.
Comments
I felt it was clear from the article that the doctors promoting the compassionate killing were saying that it should be a decision made between parents and the doctor.
Cynthia