Politics
Tuesday September 28, 2004
Court to Hear Debate Over Hospital's No-Resuscitation Rule for Preemie
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
PORTSMOUTH, September 28, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Charlotte Wyatt weighed no more than one pound when she was born three months premature. She has severely damaged lungs and doctors have predicted she will not live past infancy. Her parents were told that should she have life-threatening problems, the child would be kept alive long enough for them to attend her death but that it would be "against the child's interests" to resuscitate her.
The hospital has said it will seek a court injunction if the parents insist on resuscitation. The child is now ten months old, weighs ten pounds and, say her parents, deserves every chance to live. Her father, Darren Wyatt said, "She has been fighting for 10 months and I'm not prepared to let her down. We need to be able to say we did absolutely everything in our power to help her."
He vowed to fight for his child's life in court. "If the hospital tries to get a court order we will have to fight that. We still hope that one day Charlotte might come out of hospital. We have a feeling that she can pull through." Mr. Justice Hedley said a public hearing was in the interests of an informed debate. He said, "In this kind of case, the interests of justice are much more likely to be served by a responsible debate, based on as full information as possible."
Doctors who decide to withhold treatment must 'discuss' the matter with parents, but there is no requirement that they abide by parents' wishes. Minutes from a meeting of the Portsmouth Hospital Trustees say, "The trust would be prepared to go to the courts rather than send Charlotte to the intensive care unit. From past experience the court would agree with the doctors as they would feel that doctors cannot be forced to treat a child in a way they believe to be against the child's best interests - despite the wishes of the parents."
News Telegraph coverage: http://www.sport.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/28/nbaby28.xm...
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Hoffman Loses Final Tally of NY-23 Race; Alleges ACORN Tampering and Fraud
- Abortion Activist Judge Hamilton Confirmed with Help of Ten Republican Senators
- CDC Reverses Gardasil Vaccine Requirement for Immigrants
- Germany Faces Economic Downturn with Plummeting Birth Rate and Aging Population
- CCHD in Archdiocese of Chicago Says it is Working to Fix Problems
- Rejection of Washington DC Marriage Referendum Challenged With Legal Suit
- Obama-Supporting Homosexual Activist to Out Sexually Involved Priests Unless they Support Gay 'Marriage
- Austrian Catholic Bishops Issue Bland Response to Govt's Homosexual Partnership Bill
- Interim Report on Catholic Sex-Abuse Says "Homosexual Identity" Not a Predictor of Sex Abuse
- Commentary on Nov 20 NewsBytes
- LSN NewsBytes - US Health Care Reform
- LSN NewsBytes - Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)
- LSN NewsBytes - Life Issues, Religion, Swine Flu, US Politics, Sarah Palin, Miscellaneous
- LSN NewsBytes - Climate Change/Global Warming
- 59 Bishops Contributed Financially to Maine Bishop's Effort to Oppose Maine Same-Sex "Marriage" Law
- Pro-Abortion Lawmakers Shower Praise on Senate Bill's Phony Abortion Compromise
Most Read this Week
- Largest U.S. Homosexual Publisher Shuts Down, Closing Major Gay Newspapers
- EWTN's Arroyo Hosts Reform CCHD Reps Who Reveal Shocking Evidence Against USCCB Anti-Poverty Arm
- Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt against European Court Ruling
- Nat'l Organization for Marriage Responds to Miss California "Sex Tape" Scandal
- Obama Evades Questioning on Stupak Amendment in FOX Interview
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"
- French Judge Finds Hospital Guilty of "Unreasonable Obstinacy" in Saving Newborn's Life
- EU Leaders to Choose President today in Secret "Soviet Style" Meetings
- Hoffman "Unconcedes" Battle for NY-23: Recount Provides Hope for "Miracle" Victory
- CCHD Responds to Reform Movement
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.