Euthanasia or eugenics of newborns with Disabilities

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

The Gulf Times is reporting that at a workshop in Doha organized by the Qatar Foundation for Child and Women Protection (QFCWP) that parents of newborns with disabilities stated that euthanasia needs to be legal for their circumstances. The workshop was organized under the theme of: child protection.

The report in the Gulf Times stated:

• One doctor suggested that life-support can be withdrawn from the child with a disability, with the consent of the family and two doctors who agree that life-support is futile.
• QFCWP’s director general, Farida al-Obaidly told the story of a child who was born with disabilities and whose parents wanted treatment. The child is now seven years old and unique in his own way.
• QFCWP legal advisor, Noor al-Hor stated that the sanctity of life supersedes.
• Hamad Medical Corporations’ chief legal adviser, Abul Qasim Midwi pointed out that those who resort to objectionable conduct are punishable under the penal law of Qatar.
• It was then stated that these cases should be immediately reported to the police.

Discussions concerning the euthanasia or neglect of newborns with disabilities shows how deep attitudes towards disability exist within many cultures.

In Canada, children are often intentionally neglected, enabling them to die, rather than providing basic medical care. These decisions are not being made based on the best interests of the child, but rather the decision was made that the child should die.

If society legalizes euthanasia and allows doctors or parents to intentionally inject children or others with disabilities, then existing prejudices that exist will lead to some lives being eliminated.

The cover-up will suggest that the child or the person with a disability was suffering.