November 6, 2006
Daily Telegraph
London

A leading British medical college has called on the health profession to consider euthanasia for seriously disabled newborn babies.

The Royal college of Obstetricians and Gynecology has said that “active euthanasia” should be considered to spare parents the emotional and financial burdens of bringing up such children.

“A very disabled child can mean a disabled family,” it says. “If life shortening and deliberate interventions to kill infants were available, they might have an impact on obstetric decision making, even preventing some late abortions, as some parents would be more confident about continuing a pregnancy and taking a risk on outcome.”

The call comes in the college’s submission to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which is conducting an inquiry into the ethical issues raised by the policy of prolonging life in newborn babies. The proposal has been supported by several leading geneticists and medical ethicists.”