The antiabortion movement and Baby Jane Doe

J Health Polit Policy Law. 1986 Summer;11(2):255-69. doi: 10.1215/03616878-11-2-255.

Abstract

In the early 1980s, the leadership of the antiabortion movement became involved in a campaign to establish legal rights to extraordinary medical care for seriously handicapped newborns. Armed with political contacts in the Reagan administration and Congress, and allied with advocates for the disabled, the antiabortion movement searched for a test case to guide through the courts. Antiabortion advocate Lawrence Washburn found such a case in Baby Jane Doe, who was being treated at Stony Brook Medical Center. The movement went on to amend the Child Abuse Act to include protections for handicapped newborns. Activists in the movement chose the issue of Baby Jane Doe because they believed it would attract welcome publicity, give them the appearance of supporting civil rights, and enhance their argument as to the legal rights of the fetus and thus strengthen the case against abortion. The movement was partially successful in obtaining its goals.

KIE: The authors analyze the right-to-life movement's involvement in the controversy surrounding the withholding of treatment from handicapped newborns. They attribute the movement's interest in this issue to a desire to "improve its image, hone its legal strategy, and make new friends" among advocates for the disabled. Working with the latter, the antiabortion movement lobbied in support of the Department of Health and Human Services' "Baby Doe" regulations, which were drawn up to prevent hospitals that receive federal funds from discriminating against handicapped infants. The coalition regarded New York's "Baby Jane Doe" as a test case of the regulations in the courts, while its members continued to press for state and federal legislation guaranteeing treatment for most seriously ill newborns. Paige and Karnofsky conclude that, despite some setbacks, the right-to-life movement achieved many of its goals before shifting its attention back to banning abortion.

MeSH terms

  • Abnormalities, Multiple*
  • Abortion, Legal*
  • Catholicism
  • Ethics, Medical
  • Euthanasia*
  • Euthanasia, Passive*
  • Federal Government
  • Female
  • Government Regulation*
  • Humans
  • Infant, Newborn
  • Legislation, Medical*
  • Patient Advocacy / legislation & jurisprudence*
  • Patient Selection
  • Pregnancy
  • United States
  • Value of Life
  • Withholding Treatment*