ABSTRACT
On 13 December 2006 the General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It affirms unequivocally disabled people’s right to life. The previous month however, on 6 November, the Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, under the headline ‘Kill disabled tots, say top docs’, reported that the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists had asked for a debate on the possibility of introducing active euthanasia in some cases. The Sun reported that such practices were intended to spare parents the emotional burden and financial hardship of bringing up sick children. The newspaper invited its readers to contribute to the debate: ‘Have your say. Do you think disabled babies should be killed? Tell us what you think.’ (Sun Online, Monday, 6 November, 2006, p.1). It is difficult to imagine a newspaper inviting its readership to vote on whether any other group of UK citizens should be killed or allowed to live. The fact that the Sun saw it as acceptable to do so in relation to disabled infants, together with the issues it highlighted as germane to the debate, offers a telling reminder of the reasons why many disabled people feel that little can be taken for granted in relation to the valuations placed on their lives.
