Justified by What? Three Ways to Provide an Ethical Basis for Neonatal Policies

Abstract

In this article, I identify 3 ways of justifying neonatal policies of when to provide life-saving treatment to infants who were born extremely premature: by appealing to universal principles or rights, to considerations of the best interests of the children, or to considerations of the best interests of the families. I go on to show how each of these justifications can be used to characterize the discourse on neonatal policies in 1 of the Scandinavian countries.