[Ethical observations concerning the limitations of medical duty to treat in severely handicapped neonates].

The author places the new treatment options of neonatal intensive care units into the framework of modern medicine in general. Paradoxical situations emerge. In one section of the hospital, premature newborn babies are treated in the intensive-care unit, and in another section others are selected for abortion. A late interruption is often an early labour and delivery. The right to live for every person is formulated in the text. The problems concerning viability and perspectives for life of premature or handicapped newborn babies makes it impossible to formulate a list of situations in which the duty to treat can be disregarded. The only treatment limit is complete brain-death. The parents of the child are the ones most affected by its disabilities; therefore, they must be included in the process of decision-making. There is no right for a healthy child, but a right of the child for acceptance and appropriate care by parents and a stable society.