The Competence of Children: No Longer All or None

A fixed age of competence at 18 or 21 has been made obsolete by court and new biomedical technologies such as safer abortion procedures. discusses the concept of "variable" competence in the context of minors decision making in medical care or clinical trials, where a child's is dependent on the amount of risk or gain involved, social benefits costs, and the nature of the decision itself. (KIE abstract)