[Sociological, legal and theological aspects of selection for treatment in myelomeningocele (author's transl)].

The arbitrary and arrogant presumption to be entitled to select cases for treatment amongst severely handicapped children cannot be justified at all, either from the legal or the theological point of view. The idea of selection can only be explained on the basis of the discrepancy in modern medicine between being forced, on the one hand, to continue in the tradition of the great biological and technical discoveries of the past decodes and, on the other hand, not being able to solve important current problems such as the determination of the time of death, the beginning of life or the inability to influence or prevent congenital malformations. The doctor, however, is charged against all exhortations of social Darwinism by society to help his patient to the best of his knowledge and skill.