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Medical technology makes it increasingly possible to prolong life, sometimes indefinitely
in the face of overwhelming disability or suffering; thus, choices must be made whether
to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. Reasonable people disagree about
who should make such decisions when the patient is an infant, and what principles
or rules should guide them. The article briefly reviews the recent history of this
controversy, analyzes the major ethical substantive principles that have been proposed
to guide conduct, and presents the arguments for a procedural approach that is now
attracting interest.
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© 1986 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
