It is feared that religious differences in decisions regarding when to withhold treatment are being ignored by the courts.

The social and legal issues are highlighted in cases that involve pre-term infants. In the elderly, the cultural consensus is that these persons have lived their life and are close to death anyway. However, in the case of a pre-term infant, the issue is raised of what measures should be taken to preserve life, particular when there is a lack of resources (Seri and Evans 2008). In the case of premature infants, significant cases exist to aid in the establishment of criteria to predict survival rates. If the survival probability is too low, resources are typically saved for those infants that have a greater chance for survival. For instance, it is the general rule that babies under 23-week and that weigh less than 500 grams are unlikely to survive. However, babies...
[ View Full Essay]