The symposium, “The 25th Anniversary of the Baby Doe Rules: Perspectives from the Fields of Law, Health Care, Ethics, and Disability Policy,” will be held on Friday, February 13, 2009 at Georgia State University located in downtown Atlanta. Nationally-prominent experts in the fields of neonatal medicine, law, ethics, and disability policy will explore controversial issues involved in treatment decisions for premature and other medically at-risk infants. We hope you will join us for this exciting interdisciplinary discussion.

Symposium Description

A highly publicized and controversial case involving the withholding of medical treatment from a “Baby Doe” with Down syndrome gave rise in 1984 to the federal law known as the Baby Doe Rules, which went into effect the following year. The law conditions the grant of federal funds for any state’s child protective services program on the state’s assurance that it can respond to reports of medical neglect, which may include the withholding of medical treatment from disabled infants with life-threatening conditions. Leading scholars and practitioners from the fields of health care, law, ethics, and disability policy who are experts in the field of neonatal medicine and decision-making involving very premature and other medically at-risk infants will gather to provide thoughtful commentary and debate on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary of the Baby Doe Rules. The Georgia State University Law Review will publish a symposium volume on the topic in Spring 2009.

Target Audience

Bioethicists, attorneys, physicians, hospital administrators, hospital ethics committee members, nurses, social workers, other health professionals involved in pediatric and neonatal care, disability policy organizations and individuals, and academics involved in these disciplines

Symposium Objectives