Deadline Looms for Conjoined Twins Decision

L O N D O N, Sept. 22 -- It is the hopelessness, the assurance of an unhappy ending in the case of conjoined twins Jodie and Mary that is threatening to keep it in the courts for months.

Britain’s Court of Appeal has promised its decision today. But most agree there is no right decision, only a choice between two wrongs.

And that may lead to more appeals, more delays. Some worry the outcome will be decided by default, with inaction leading ultimately to the death of both children.

The babies are now six weeks old. Joined at the abdomen, Jodie is the stronger of the two and has the only functioning heart and lungs. Doctors argue her sister Mary is “essentially a parasite” growing at Jodie’s expense.

Doctors originally gave the joined babies only six months to live if not separated. A second medical opinion gives them a little longer — perhaps a few years — but no long-term survival if not separated.

The moral and legal questions surrounding whether or not to separate the twins — which would mean killing the weaker child so that the stronger could survive — are forcing the case through the appeals process of the British courts.

“For the judges involved it is one of the hardest rulings they will ever make,” writes Andrew Grubb, professor of medical law at Cardiff Law College, in the London Times.

The Long Court Process

Britain’s High Court ruled on August 25 that the twins should be separated.

The girls’ parents disagreed saying God, not doctors, should decide whether and for how long they live.

The case moved to the Appeals Court, which has agonized over its decision.

Lord Justice Ward, once of the three Appeals Court Judges, put it in painfully plain language when he asked in court, “Do we murder Mary to save Jodie?”

But the case won’t end here.

“Whoever loses in this case, will no doubt seek an appeal,” said legal expert Michael Zander of the London School of Economics.