23 week babies

In the programme 23 Week Babies broadcast on BBC2 this evening (on iPlayer here) raised the following question of what one should do with premature babies born in the 23 week of pregnancy. The odds are that only 1 in 100 will reach adulthood without a disability. Some argue that it is better not to devote the considerable resources needed to attempt to sustain such a baby through to a state of self-sufficiency. Indeed, it reports that in Holland, doctors do not resuscitate such babies. Dr. Daphne Austin, a health trust advisor in the West Midlands likewise argues against a policy of using the limited resources of the NHS on such infants.

The ethics of triage are complex and a topic for a much longer post. Apart from simply drawing your attention to the programme whilst it is still on, I also draw your attention to the failures of reasoning that such issues typically raise. On the documentary maker Adam Wishart's page and - to no-one's surprise at all - on the comments page of this familiar tabloid rag - people display a range of fallacies and ignorance that highlight why it really is important to listen to your Critical Thinking teachers and do their homework.