The fate of seriously ill newborns has captured the atten- tion of the
public, of national and state legislators, and of powerful interest
groups. For the most part, the debate has been cast in the narrowest
possible terms: "discrimination against the handicapped"; "physician
authority"; "family autonomy." We believe that something much more
profound is happening: the debate over the care of sick and dying babies
appears to be both a manifestation of great changes in our feelings
about infants, children, and families, and a reflection of deep and
abiding attitudes toward the newborn, the handi- capped, and perhaps
other humans who are "less than" nor- mal, rational adults. How could we
cast some light on those feelings and attitudes that seemed to determine
silently the course of the public debate? We chose to enlist the
humanities-the dis- players and critics of our cultural forms. Rather
than closing down the public discussion, we wanted to open it up, to
illuminate it with the light of history, religion, philosophy,
literature, jurisprudence, and humanistically oriented sociol- ogy. This
book is a first effort to place the hotly contested Baby Doe debate into
a broader cultural context.