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Weird decision

Doctors in Ireland have been granted permission to switch off a life support machine keeping a clinically-dead woman alive because she is pregnant.

In a landmark ruling, Dublin’s High Court said keeping the young mother alive would deprive her of dignity in death and subject her father, partner and two young children to ”unimaginable distress” in a ”futile exercise”.

The p

anel of judges said it was in the best interest of the unborn child to authorise the withdrawal of life support in what was a ”tragic and unfortunate case”.

So there we have it, death is in your best interests, not life.

13 thoughts on “Weird decision”

  1. According to the doctors reports her body is failing rapidly and she is almost unrecognisable, and her blood ever more toxic. There is no way her body can carry the foetus to full term. In view of that I think it’s the right decision.

  2. So Much for Subtlety

    So there we have it, death is in your best interests, not life.

    The aim is the thin edge of the wedge for more abortion.

    Although, you know, in fairness, we are talking about Eire.

  3. Er, she’s already dead. Beyond the point of no return with no hope of the resumption of brain (and several other) functions. Since it is indeed possible to die of natural causes while hooked up to the best machines that go ping that are out there.

    Jurisprudence has simply aligned with reality for a change: quote from the judges “The condition of the mother is failing at such a rate and to such a degree that it will not be possible for the pregnancy to progress much further or to a point where any form of live birth will be possible”.

    So the thin end of the wedge theorists, who think this is a part of the femtard conspiracy war on white people from the inside can fuck right off.

  4. @ BiG

    If that is the case then keep her alive until the foetus dies naturally.

    there are no right answers in a tragic case like that, tragic tragic.

  5. @Julia, of course they can be wrong, however the reflex assumption that they are wrong is more likely to be wrong in this instance (as in most). Real life doesn’t work in certainties, and neither do judges or doctors.

    @BiI, how far should you go to keep her “alive”?

  6. @BiI

    “there are no right answers in a tragic case like that, tragic tragic.”

    I dunno. I’d say that giving precedence to the wishes of the family above the wishes of the state/church is a pretty compelling as far as answers go.

  7. I think davidseven has it right. From what I understand, the chances for the foetus were virtually non-existent. It was a recognition that to continue was probably futile, at best a medical disaster, with excessive and unnecessary stress all round. It was indeed the right decision.

  8. So Much for Subtlety

    Bloke in Germany – “Er, she’s already dead.”

    That is not the issue though is it? Unless you are arguing that she cannot object to being kept “alive”.

    “Jurisprudence has simply aligned with reality for a change: quote from the judges “The condition of the mother is failing at such a rate and to such a degree that it will not be possible for the pregnancy to progress much further or to a point where any form of live birth will be possible”.”

    Which may be true. Or it may not be. Remember that the UK does not have abortion on demand. It does have an endless supply of doctors willing to sign anything in order to allow an abortion to take place.

    “So the thin end of the wedge theorists, who think this is a part of the femtard conspiracy war on white people from the inside can fuck right off.”

    And then you make an absurd leap of logic. Why exactly do they need a Court order to stop life support? There is nothing in Catholic doctrine that says the Mother has to be kept alive. There is nothing in Irish law I can see that says she does either. The family does not want her to be. So why not just flick the switch? Why bother taking it to court?

    Unless, of course, they want a precedent.

  9. According to the news reports this morning both the family and doctors had agreed that there was no chance of life for either the woman or foetus and had agreed to switch off the machine.

    However, apparently the Eire constitution ‘protects the life of the unborn child’ and therefore the doctors were concerned about criminal charges and so took it to court.

  10. The lack of any chance of the child surviving has entirely altered.my opinion on this. What has not not altered though is my disgust at the Guardian article – and others like it – which attempted to make a moral case for switching off life support and thereby the pregnancy regardless of the child’s chance of survival. That is repugnant.

  11. “davidseven
    December 27, 2014 at 8:26 am
    According to the doctors reports her body is failing rapidly and she is almost unrecognisable, and her blood ever more toxic. There is no way her body can carry the foetus to full term. In view of that I think it’s the right decision”

    There is no right decision in this case, just a least bad decision.

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