Friday, December 26, 2014
Irish Court Rules Brain-Dead Pregnant Woman May Be Taken Off Life Support - NYTimes.com
Sections Home Search Skip to content Skip to navigation View mobile version News World U.S. Politics New York Business Technology Science Health Sports Education Obituaries Today's Paper Corrections Opinion Today's Opinion Op-Ed Columnists Editorials Contributing Writers Op-Ed Contributors Opinionator Letters Sunday Review Taking Note Room for Debate Public Editor Video: Opinion Arts Today's Arts Art & Design ArtsBeat Books Dance Movies Music N.Y.C. Events Guide Television Theater Video Games Video: Arts Living Automobiles Crosswords Food Education Fashion & Style Health Home & Garden Jobs Magazine N.Y.C. Events Guide Real Estate T Magazine Travel Weddings & Celebrations Listings & More Classifieds Tools & Services Times Topics Public Editor N.Y.C. Events Guide TV Listings Blogs Cartoons Multimedia Photography Video NYT Store Times Journeys Subscribe Manage My Account Subscribe Subscribe Times Premier Home Delivery Digital Subscriptions NYT Opinion Crossword Email Newsletters Alerts Gift Subscriptions Corporate Subscriptions Education Rate Mobile Applications Replica Edition International New York Times DUBLIN � A three-judge panel of the Irish High Court ruled Friday that doctors can turn off life support to a clinically dead pregnant woman, after hearing from legal representatives of the woman�s medical team that her fetus had little chance of surviving. The woman, a mother of two in her 20s, was 15 weeks� pregnant when she was declared dead on Dec. 3 at a hospital in Dublin following what was described as a major brain trauma on Nov. 29. She has been on life support � against her family�s wishes � since then because doctors were uncertain about the legal rights of her fetus. The woman�s name was not released for legal reasons. Describing the case, which has gripped Ireland in recent weeks , as tragic and unfortunate, the panel said that withdrawing life support was in the best interests of the fetus as well as the mother. To continue support, the judges said, would put the fetus in a situation of �a perfect storm from which it has no realistic prospect of emerging alive.� The much-debated Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution provides equal protection for both the mother and the fetus. However, the president of the High Court, Justice Nicholas Kearns, said in an earlier hearing that it was debatable whether it was applicable in this instance because it did not appear to be �an abortion case at all.� �The entire medical evidence in this case goes one way only," Justice Kearns said in a written ruling on Friday, �and that is to establish that the prospects for a successful delivery of a live baby in this case are virtually nonexistent.� Dr. Peter McKenna, the clinical director at the Rotunda maternity hospital in Dublin, which is treating the woman, told the court this week that he understood the reasons for adjudicating the case but that he did not believe there was justification for continuing life support, saying it would be �going from the extreme to the grotesque.� Speaking on behalf of the woman�s family, Dr. Peter Boylan, a leading Irish obstetrician, told the court on the same day that in any other country the woman would be allowed to die with dignity. The Irish health minister, Leo Varadkar, said he would have to study the ruling before commenting on it. Last week, however, Mr. Varadkar told the Irish Parliament that the existing laws giving equal protection to women and fetuses were �too restrictive� and had a �chilling effect� on doctors. He said later that he had the Dublin case in mind when he made the remarks, though it had not been made public. The Irish national health service, known as the Health Service Executive, brought the case on behalf of the doctors who were treating the woman. In a statement after the ruling, the agency said that changes to the Eighth Amendment might be necessary to address similar situations in future. �The particular amendment was not to designed to deal with those types of cases, and certainly at this point, while there is a degree of clarity brought to the matter, guidelines will have to be seriously considered,� said Paul Connors, the national director of communications for the health service, said in the statement.
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