Erschienen in:
01.01.2008 | Commentary
Deliberate termination of life of newborns with spina bifida
verfasst von:
M. Vinchon
Erschienen in:
Child's Nervous System
|
Ausgabe 1/2008
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Excerpt
Since the very origins of the medical profession, dealing with life-and-death matters has been part of physicians’ duties. These duties have expanded dramatically with the development of antenatal medicine. For several years, the Netherlands have developed laws for medically assisted suicide, which are unique. Very recently, these life termination laws have been extended to allow deliberate life termination in newborns, with strict criteria under the control of an ad hoc committee. These life-termination decisions must be based on “hopeless and unbearable suffering”, and not on “quality of life judgments”. In this issue, de Jong develops why he challenges the decision to allow deliberate postnatal termination of life for myelomeningocele (MM). He exposes why, in his opinion, the medical, legal and humane justifications for life termination in MM are unfounded. In so doing, he also challenges the commonly admitted practice of antenatal termination of pregnancy in case of MM and raises disturbing questions on the role of surgery to alleviate the sufferings of patients born with MM. …
