The occasion for this reminder was the death, one month earlier, of a Bloomington, Indiana infant identified to the public only as "Infant Doe." Baby boy Doe was born with Down's syndrome (trisomy 21) and with a tracheoesophageal fistula (an opening between the breathing and swallowing tubes that prevents passage of food to the stomach). The baby's parents were informed that surgery to correct his fistula would have "an even chance of success." Left untreated, the fistula would soon lead to the baby's death from starvation or pneumonia (induced by stomach secretions reaching the lungs). The parents, who also have two healthy children, chose to withhold food and treatment and "let nature take its course."

Court action to remove the infant from his parents' custody (and permit the surgery) was sought by the county prosecutor. Such action was denied by the court, and the Indiana Supreme Court declined to review the lower court's ruling. Infant Doe die, at six days of age, as Indiana authorities were seeking intervention from the US Supreme Court. The parents' lawyer commented that the mother was with her child to the end—"It wasn't a case of abandonment. It was a case of love."

[This case was adapted by James Tubbs from Fred Barbash and Cristine Russell, "The Demise of 'Infant Doe': Permitted Death Gives Life to an Old Debate," The Washington Post. April 17, 1982, and from the H.H.S. News, May 18,1982.]