Now available for rental or purchase, The Kidnapping of Baby John Doe, is a Canadian video, written, directed and produced by the pro-life husband and wife team, Patricia and Peter Gerretsen. Inspired by the true story of Baby John Doe in Bloomington, Indians, the movie exposes the empty rhetoric of those who argue that “quality of life” is an acceptable excuse to starve to death newborn babies with Downs’ Syndrome.
When the Robarts’ baby is born, the father agrees with medical advice to allow “nature to take its course” and refuses minor surgery for the child. A nurse (Jayne Eastwood) vehemently disagrees with the decision, kidnaps the baby and persuades her newly graduated surgeon friend (George Millenbach) to perform emergency surgery secretly in her home. Helen Hughes, playing Aunt Helen, gave a wonderful cameo performance, an elderly mentally disable woman, who completely undermines the “quality of life” argument.
The surgery is a success, but legal trouble for nurse and surgeon begins when he is returned to the hospital.