[js1138]

This is dangerous ground. The Nazis killed retarded people of all ages; the lovely and Utopian Sweeds were sterilizing "defective" people long after other western countries outlawed this form of eugenics.

We, of course, are more civilzed. For retarded people who live on welfare, most females are required to take birth control pills in order to qualify for housing. I leave it to you to decide the morality of this. It is definitely utilitarian.

[PatrickHenry]

This is dangerous ground [For example, those rare cases where a baby is born with no cerebrum].

I know a slippery slope when I see one. I agree, this is a tricky area. Still, the genuine extremes aren't all that difficult. But they can't (or shouldn't) be used as stepping stones to the less extreme cases. Easy to say; tough to do. In the middle of the extremes are some of the most difficult topics in ethics. I don't pretend to have any universal answers.