Family ethics in caring for newborns with impairments.

The technological advances of modern society mean that family members have expanded obligations to care for newborns with severe impairments, who would have died in previous eras. This biological imbalance has created a moral one as well, for to care is to be penalized. Often this moral heroism can be sustained as a vacation only in communities based on the ideal of Christian love. Severely impaired children impose great physical and emotional stress on their parents, which can push the parents to the limits if they are unable to tap into altruistic emotions. Historically, children were not accorded moral status in the West until the Christian influence brought them into the moral community and encouraged parental responsibility. To fulfill their obligations, perhaps parents should bring their child with impairments home and relinquish care only when they find the burden too great. They are obligated to try because they brought the child into existence (biological-causal argument), because this caring is a reflection of God's image, and because children have a moral claim on their parents. Limits to parental obligations exist when continued care would be psychologically destructive for the parents, would conflict with obligations to other family members, particularly siblings, or would be harmful to the child because the atmosphere is no longer nurturing and loving.