Baby Theresa Ann Campo Pearson Was Tragically Born with Anencephalia

Baby Theresa

In March 1992 Theresa Ann Campo Pearson was tragically born with anencephalia, a rare condition in which most of the upper skull and brain cortex are missing (Wellington: Baby Theresa). Although her partially developed brain stem can still produce breathing and a heartbeat, she could never have a conscious life (Wellington: Baby Theresa). Most anencephalic babies are detected and aborted during early pregnancy because of the severity of their condition and the consensus of futility of treatment. Additionally, amongst the ones that are born (about 300 each year), usually die within a few days (Wellington: Baby Theresa). The parents, anticipating the death of their daughter in a matter of days, decided to volunteer her organs for transplant. Aware of the serious shortage of available organs, the physicians gave their consent to the procedure in hopes of rescuing the lives of other babies. However, the major difficulty with this decision was that if the doctors waited until baby Theresa died naturally, the organs would not be usable due to deterioration (Wellington: Baby Theresa). This case was ultimately taken to court where the procedure was not permitted due to the law that permits the removal of organs until the actual death of the donor. Baby Theresa died nine days after her birth and it was too late for organ transplantation because her organs had deteriorated too much (Briggs A-6) Main issues, potential responses, and criticism that arose from this case can be understood through the articulation of associated ethical principles and theories.

Baby Theresa is evidently incapable of giving her own informed consent or personal autonomy, as a result the authorization is granted to her parents and physicians to make decisions on her behalf. They agree upon an organ transplant in hopes that her organs could be used to help other children in need (Briggs A-6). This sparked a great deal of controversy, raising a number of ethical questions by the public and other ethicists. In the parents and physicians’ perspective, they are solving the problem by taking a quality of life approach to the situation. Since Baby Theresa would not be able to lead a normal life, her existence holds little value and her healthy organs would do her no good. The Quality of Life perspective centers around the supposition that lives have relative value to others and some are more worth living because they have more value or utility (Wellington: Key Principles) Baby Theresa’s short life is considered not worth living and holds minimum value because of her inability to communicate or relate to others, form any type of social bonds or life fulfilling goals.

According to the utilitarian approach, a principle associated with the quality of life perspective, moral decisions are made by the weighing of potential benefits and disbenefits that can arise from that action (Wellington: Key Principles). It focuses on