Children At The Edge Of Life: Parents, Doctors And Children’s Rights

Abstract

This chapter focuses on premature newborn babies who live at life's margins. It offers a perspective on the recent cases in England of Charlotte Wyatt and Luke Winston- Jones. The chapter also briefly talks about premature newborns. As a result of advances in medical science, most children are born healthy. Indeed, even children who are born under 26 weeks of gestation have a good chance of life at a level or quality which most of us would consider reasonable. However, there are some babies born who are so profoundly handicapped that ethical issues about their treatment must be addressed. Charlotte Wyatt and Luke Winston-Jones are two recent English examples of the babies. It is generally agreed that if the quality of life of the newborn is extremely poor and the prognosis is that it cannot improve, s/he need not be kept alive, but may be allowed to die. Keywords: Charlotte Wyatt; handicapped newborn babies; Luke Winston- Jones; premature newborn babies; sick children