Selective Nontreatment of Handicapped Newborns

This important and timely book addresses one of the most complex issues in biomedical ethics: whether, and under what circumstances, life-prolonging treatment may be withheld from severely handicapped infants.

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Who decides, and on what basis, how to treat a child with severe birth defects? Any decisions made on such cases are painful and complex, and have far-reaching consequences for society at large. Addressing the medical, legal, and ethical aspects of the issue, Robert Weir presents the first serious survey of the major arguments regarding selective non-treatment, which have been advanced by physicians, attorneys, and the judicial system.