RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Crimes and misdemeanours: the case of child abandonment JF Journal of Medical Ethics JO J Med Ethics FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics SP 28 OP 34 DO 10.1136/jme.2005.014126 VO 33 IS 1 A1 S Giordano YR 2007 UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/33/1/28.abstract AB In 2002, a child was abandoned in a Burger King restaurant in Amsterdam by a Chinese woman, who hoped that the baby would be picked up by someone able to give the child a better life. She was convicted for child abandonment and imprisoned. Whereas some forms of child abandonment are criminalised, others are socially accepted and not even on the ethics agenda. This paper is an invitation to reflect on the inconsistency in the ways in which we prosecute, punish or try to correct some forms of child abandonment and yet make allowances for others.