PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - N Teisseyre AU - I Duarte dos Reis AU - P C Sorum AU - E Mullet TI - The acceptability among French lay persons of ending the lives of damaged newborns AID - 10.1136/jme.2009.029686 DP - 2009 Nov 01 TA - Journal of Medical Ethics PG - 701--708 VI - 35 IP - 11 4099 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/35/11/701.short 4100 - http://jme.bmj.com/content/35/11/701.full SO - J Med Ethics2009 Nov 01; 35 AB - Background: Lay persons’ judgements of the acceptability of the not uncommon practice of ending the life of a damaged neonate have not been studied.Methods: A convenience sample of 1635 lay people in France rated how acceptable it would be for a physician to end a neonate’s life—by withholding care, withdrawing care, or active euthanasia—in 54 scenarios in which the neonate was diagnosed either with perinatal asphyxia or a genetic abnormality. The scenarios were all combinations of four factors: three levels of maturity or immaturity, three levels of severity of the health problem, three levels of parents’ preference concerning prolonging care and two levels of decision-making (with or without consulting the other caregivers).Analyses: Analyses of variance of the participants’ responses were performed to determine the importance of each factor; the interactions among factors, with methods of ending life and with other patient characteristics; and the differences between asphyxia and genetic abnormality. A cluster analysis was performed to look for groups with different patterns of responses.Results: Lay people assigned most importance to the parents’ request and to the severity of the problem. Except for a small group (12%) always opposed to ending life, they used a simple additive-type rule in integrating the information.Implications: Most of this sample of French lay people are not categorically for or against ending the life of a damaged neonate, but judge its degree of acceptability by adding up those factors that seem most salient to them.