She Thought Babies with Down Syndrome Were Better off Dead- Then She had a Child with Down
A lawyer changes her mind.
Janine Steck Huffman has a child with Down’s syndrome. But years before she gave birth to her son Nash, she was partly responsible for the legal starvation death of Baby Doe, another child born with the same condition.
Baby Doe was born in Bloomington, Indiana, in April 1982. Besides Down syndrome, he had esophageal atresia, which prevented him from eating. Without a simple operation, he would starve to death.
When Baby Doe’s mother saw him for the first time, she reportedly said, “You look beautiful. You look different from my other two, but I love you anyway.”(1)
But that was before she learned Baby Doe had Down syndrome.
A doctor at the Bloomington Hospital, Walters Owens, discouraged the Does from proceeding with the surgery. He emphasized the burden of this baby’s care posed and their risk for a poorer quality of life. He also felt Baby Doe wouldn’t have a good quality of life.
He would later tell reporter Jeff Lyon why he was so opposed to Baby Doe’s survival. Owens’ nephew had a child who was similarly disabled. This child, born “malformed” in his opinion, required surgery and battled frequent bouts of pneumonia.”…
