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Are children competent to make decisions about their own deaths?

Attorneys, philosophers, bioethicists and health care professionals have vigorously debated how much state control there should be over an individual's or family's decision to discontinue life-sustaining treatment. Where treatment of a minor is involved, the debate becomes even more complex. The purposes of this study were to identify cases involving the withdrawal of Life-sustaining treatment in children, to describe the legal response to, and the management of, these cases, to examine variables that influence decision making, and to determine what legal-ethical standards are used and how they are applied. In addition, the author reviewed the literature on children's understanding of death and competence to participate in treatment decision making and applied those findings to argue for greater involvement of children in decision making related to the use of life-sustaining treatment. Language: en