<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Joseph Fletcher claims in his Christian situation ethic developed in the nineteen sixties that there is nothing wrong with the use of euthanasia on children born with Down’s syndrome. But is it possible to use his claim of non-persons as non-moral subjects in an ethic that claims not to be legalistic? This paper affirms that Fletcher’s claims are wrong, and that questions motivated by a lack of resources should be answered with a critical discussion regarding those resources. Not with an ethic that supports euthanasia.</p></abstract>

Joseph Fletcher claims in his Christian situation ethic developed in the nineteen sixties that there is nothing wrong with the use of euthanasia on children born with Down’s syndrome. But is it possible to use his claim of non-persons as non-moral subjects in an ethic that claims not to be legalistic? This paper affirms that Fletcher’s claims are wrong, and that questions motivated by a lack of resources should be answered with a critical discussion regarding those resources. Not with an ethic that supports euthanasia.

A life in need of “neither protection nor preservation”: Joseph Fletcher, Down’s syndrome and euthanasia

Dr. in Theological ethics, Uppsala University, address: Luthagsesplanaden 8A, 752 25 Uppsala, Sweden

Review of Ecumenical Studies Sibiu

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Joseph Fletcher claims in his Christian situation ethic developed in the nineteen sixties that there is nothing wrong with the use of euthanasia on children...

A life in need of “neither protection nor preservation”: Joseph Fletcher, Down’s syndrome and euthanasia

Published Online: Jan 27, 2015

Page range: 246 - 258

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ress-2014-0119

© 2015

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.