Survival at what cost? Origins and effects of the modern controversy on treating severely handicapped newborns.

This paper examines the background of technological innovation, ethical debate, and social change, against which the 1980s debate over how to treat severely handicapped newborns in general, and Baby Jane Doe in particular, took place. A commentary follows examining the relative place of government, practitioners, hospital ethics committees, and parents in making decisions about treatment for handicapped newborns.