Baby Doe Law
Joseph Gaydos (D‑PA 20th), Pat Williams (D‑MT 1st) on March 3, 1983 on October 9, 1984 |
Part of a series on |
Euthanasia |
---|
Types |
Views |
Groups |
People |
Books |
Jurisdictions |
|
Laws |
Alternatives |
Other issues |
The Baby Doe Law or Baby Doe Amendment is an amendment to the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974, passed in 1984, that sets forth specific criteria and guidelines for the treatment of disabled newborns in the United States, regardless of the wishes of the parents.
Details of the law
The Baby Doe Law mandates that states receiving federal money for child abuse programs develop procedures to report
Background of the law
The law came about as a result of several widely publicized cases involving the deaths of disabled newborns. The parents of these children withheld standard medical treatment for correctable gastrointestinal birth defects, sometimes leading to their deaths.
Baby Doe
In 1982 a baby known as "Baby Doe" was born in Bloomington, Indiana, with Down syndrome and a birth defect requiring surgery. The parents refused the surgery because of the child's Down syndrome. Hospital officials had a guardian appointed by the Indiana Juvenile Court to determine whether the surgery should be done. The court ruled in favor of the parents (and thus against the surgery), and the Indiana Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The baby died later in 1982. Due to the baby's death (mootness) there could be no appeal to the Supreme Court.[1]
Baby Jane Doe
A somewhat similar situation in 1983 involving a "Baby Jane Doe" again brought the issue of withholding treatment for newborns with disabilities to public attention. In this case, the parents and doctors had decided not to perform surgery on a baby with a birth defect affecting the spine and brain.
Baby Jane Doe was born on October 11, 1983, in
Also, the
In early November, HHS brought suit against the hospital to the US District Court. The court concluded that the hospital was not in violation of section 504, and that the hospital treatment plan for the infant was based on the parents' decision to withhold surgery, not on discrimination. The court also found the parents' decision was "reasonable" based on the "medical options available and genuine concern for the best interests of the child." The Court of Appeals ruled that the Rehabilitation Act did not give HHS any ability to interfere with the "treatment decisions involving defective newborn infants".[6][7]
During the protracted court battles, Baby Jane's parents consented to some surgery for their daughter. The hole in her spine closed naturally, without surgery. Baby Jane survived beyond anyone's expectations. She has intellectual and other disabilities, such as
The Baby Doe Laws
In January 1984, the government issued Baby Doe regulations whereby if parents refused treatment for their infants with congenital defects, Infant Care Review Committees were required to advise the hospital to alert the courts or a child protective agency.
However, on October 9, 1984, the final Baby Doe law, known as the Baby Doe Amendment, amended the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 1974 to include the withholding of fluids, food, and medically indicated treatment from disabled newborns. This law went into effect on June 1, 1985, and is still in effect.[9][10][1]
Actual text of the current Baby Doe Law
The following text is found under the eligibility requirements for federal funding in U.S.C.A. TITLE 42, CHAPTER 67, Sec. 5106a. Grants to States for child abuse and neglect prevention and treatment programs:
- (B) an assurance that the State has in place procedures for responding to the reporting of medical neglect (including instances of withholding of medically indicated treatment from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions), procedures or programs, or both (within the State child protective services system), to provide for--
- (i) coordination and consultation with individuals designated by and within appropriate health-care facilities;
- (ii) prompt notification by individuals designated by and within appropriate health-care facilities of cases of suspected medical neglect (including instances of withholding of medically indicated treatment from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions); and
- (iii) authority, under State law, for the State child protective services system to pursue any legal remedies, including the authority to initiate legal proceedings in a court of competent jurisdiction, as may be necessary to prevent the withholding of medically indicated treatment from disabled infants with life threatening conditions;
See also
- Born-Alive Infants Protection Act
- Meltdown (album) – Christian artist Steve Taylor wrote a song entitled "Baby Doe" in 1984 in response to the Baby Doe incidents.
- Baby K
References
- ^ a b c d "The Baby Doe Rules (1984) | The Embryo Project Encyclopedia". embryo.asu.edu.
- ^ a b c d e Chambers, Marcia (January 8, 1984). "Baby Doe: Hard Case for Parents and Courts". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ a b "Update: Baby Jane Doe Turns Nine Today". The New York Times. May 17, 1992. Retrieved February 14, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Fuller, Nicole (October 13, 2013). "Baby Jane Doe, center of debate in '80s, now 30". Newsday. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- ^ "C. Everett Koop Papers". Retrieved February 14, 2010.
- PMID 6742262.
- ^ "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions". Findlaw.
- ^ The Future of Children, Journal Issue: Low Birth Weight, "Evidence-Based Ethics and the Care of Premature Infants." 5(1), Spring 1995.
- PMID 3336197– via jamanetwork.com.
- ^ For information about this, see: Kathryn Moss (1987) "The 'Baby Doe' Legislation: Its Rise and Fall". Policy Studies Journal 15 (4), 629–651.
External links