A Perspective of Mental Handicap

IVE years ago MENCAP, The Royal Society for Mentally Handicapped children and adults, faced a formidable challenge. The society was asked to state its views in regard to life-giving operations, euthanasia, abortion, et al, following two widely-publicised cases at Hammersmith and Leicester crown court, one of which involved the with-holding of surgery for Duodenal Atresia in a newly-bom Down’s baby. The other was concerned with a charge of attempted murder being brought against a well-known paediatrician for prescribing nursing care only for another Down’s Neonate.