This is such a sad time in the social history of Down Syndrome. Not only were the lifesaving heart surgeries that we now see performed almost routinely on our children with severe heart defects not available back then, but even if they were, they might not have had a chance. You see, that was still in the time when doctors could refuse to provide care to children with Down Syndrome. Children with Down Syndrome were often seen as not worthy and too burdensome to bother saving.
Just typing that pains my mama heart.
The case that prompted the passing of the Baby Doe law is so tragic it brings tears to my eyes.
Baby Doe is the name of an amendment to the Child Abuse Law passed in 1984 in the United States that sets forth specific criteria and guidelines for the treatment of seriously ill and/or disabled newborns, regardless of the wishes of the parents. The law came about as a result of several widely publicized cases involving the deaths of handicapped newborns. The parents of these children withheld standard medical treatment for correctable gastrointestinal birth defects, leading to their death by preventing nutrition and hydration. The primary case was a 1982 incident involving “Baby Doe”, a Bloomington, Indiana, baby with Down syndromewhose parents declined surgery to fix esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula, leading to the baby’s death.
So, in the day we are living in now, children are not only protected by this law, but doctors are also required to treat children who need major or minor surgery for health issues, regardless of whether they have an intellectual disability or not. Prior to the passing of this law, if a child had a medical condition and the parents wanted treatment, it was up to the doctor if they wanted to provide treatment. There were some doctors who refused treatment to children with medical handicaps, regardless of the parent’s wishes.
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