ABSTRACT
The problem of the defective neonate provides an example of the cyclical nature of medical jurisprudence. There have been a number of significant court decisions and it is fair to say that the ground rules relating to the management of the defective neonate have been largely laid down and agreed by both the medical and legal professions. Selective non-treatment of the newborn is better considered under the general rubric of medical futility. A disturbingly convincing case can be made out on clinical grounds that selective neonaticide is a scientifically more acceptable way of eliminating congenital disease than is abortion, in which a decision depends, to an extent, on probabilities. The majority of important decisions relate to infancy rather than to the neonatal period. As a direct consequence, a federal regulation was promulgated applying the Rehabilitation Act 1973, s.504 to the defective neonate.
