A leading Catholic bioethics agency has called for changes in the law and for a government review after the trauma experienced by the parents of 12 year old Archie Battersbee, who passed away last week following the switching off of his ventilator and other forms of life support against the wishes of the parents.
The Oxford-based Anscombe Bioethics Centre said: “This decision has come after four hearings in the High Court, two in the Appeals Court, two decisions by the Supreme Court, one by the European Court of Human Rights and an intervention by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In law, Barts Health NHS Trust has prevailed over the parents of the child; but this is surely a Pyrrhic victory. No one wins when decisions are made in a way that increases the distress of those who will feel the loss most deeply”.
“The court battle over Archie Battersbee’s care is the latest example of the dying of children becoming complicated by unresolved conflict between parents and hospital authorities. It seems clear that there are serious problems with the current clinical, interpersonal, ethical, and legal approach to these situations.”
