The antiabortion movement and Baby Jane Doe
Paige, C.; Karnofsky, E.B.
Journal of Health Politics Policy and Law 11(2): 255-269
1986
ISSN/ISBN: 0361-6878 PMID: 3745839 DOI: 10.1215/03616878-11-2-255Document Number: 575545
This article relates in detail the effort of the antiabortion movement in the U.S. to include in its ranks the handicapped rights movement, and establish legal rights to extraordinary medical care for seriously handicapped newborns. They hoped to enlarge their base of support from right wing voters, improve their image in terms of caring about the fate of children already born and civil rights in general. Some of their efforts detailed here include gathering of political support, getting candidates elected, launching a popular book, courting support of related organizations, organizing "whistle blowers" to find legal test cases, prompting letter campaigns timed to intercept court decisions and pressuring for legislation. They tried a test case in 1983, concerning a newborn with microcephaly, spina bifida and hydrocephaly, for whom her parents had refused to sign consent to operate. Despite their efforts, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, countering that the parents had the right to decide and that the lawyer had no standing in court. The antiabortion movement, however, did succeed in including amendments of their design in the Child Abuse Act, limiting the freedom of hospitals to choose care for seriously handicapped newborns. The movement met resistance from both the medical establishment and the populace, especially on the issue of parents' civil rights to choose treatment. They attained some success, but have relegated this topic to the background since 1984.