Modern medicine is usually based on moral norms connected with people’s rights to live or die. In other words, the aspect of euthanasia of infants is crucial as the decision on a person’s life is taken by others. This problem provides multiple grounds for discussion because it presents advantages and disadvantages for an infant, depending on circumstances and health status. Children with fatal physical conditions who are doomed to die at a specific time can undergo euthanasia according to all moral principles.
Parents and doctors are the parties responsible in such cases. It is unethical to withhold surgery because the decision is usually made on irrelevant grounds (Rachels, 1975). In the same way, it is morally permissible to allow the operation, since a baby may have a chance to recover and live longer (Rachels, 1975). Parents may not act in the best interest of their infant as they consider the fact of suffering, where the eventual result is death. For this reason, they choose to terminate the life of their child as well as their own “battles.”
However, physicians who decide not to operate cannot be equivalent to murder because they are not self-interested in such a choice. Consequently, if parents have moral permission to shorten the suffering of their infant and allow them to die, active euthanasia can be used. There are cases where merciful release is justified: for example, when a person suffers intense agony, and a physician can stop it with an injection (Rachels, 1975). Eventually, all instances in these terms should be carefully analyzed before making any decision.
As a result, medical procedures that involve moral principles require careful evaluation to avoid harming a human being. When it comes to the cases of children with Down syndrome, doctors must analyze their health conditions, and parents should be aware of that to make the correct resolution. If any treatment is hopeless and a child’s physical state is doomed to constant suffering, euthanasia should be considered.
Reference
Rachels, J. (1975). Active and passive euthanasia. New England Journal of Medicine, 292(2), 78-81.