The final, anticlimactic rule on Baby Doe

Hastings Cent Rep. 1985 Jun;15(3):5-9.

Abstract

KIE: Murray discusses the gist of the Department of Health and Human Services' final rule on the care of handicapped infants, what its impact will be on medical decision making, and what it signifies to the three groups most concerned with its formulation--physicians, members of right-to-life groups, and the disabled and their advocates. He describes the changes that the rule went through before it was acceptable to all three groups, explains why each group claimed victory for its position, and gives reasons why he believes that the rule will not affect the treatment of most handicapped infants. He concludes that the rule has resolved little of moral substance, and that society remains ambivalent toward the disabled.

MeSH terms

  • Congenital Abnormalities*
  • Ethics Committees, Clinical
  • Ethics, Institutional
  • Federal Government
  • Government Regulation*
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Infant Care / standards
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Legislation, Hospital*
  • Life Support Care / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Pediatrics
  • United States
  • Withholding Treatment*