After nearly a month of debates and testimonies arguing the legal rights of an unborn fetus, a three-judge panel of the Irish High Court ruled on Friday Dec. 26 that in the case of a pregnant mother being declared clinically dead, that doctors may choose to turn off life support, and in-effect terminate the pregnancy, if the fetus has little chance of survival.
The new court ruling, while controversially argued, was sparked earlier this month when an Irish mother of two, now in her 20s and 15 weeks pregnant, was declared clinically dead at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital in Dublin after sustaining significant injuries and a major brain trauma on Nov. 29. Since declaring her dead on Dec. 3, she has been placed on life support again her family's wishes, as doctors and legislators decided on the uncertain future and rights of her fetus.
Brought to the Irish High Court in search of a decision, the case has received a lot of attention in Ireland in recent weeks, due to its unfortunate and tragic implications. Finally, after hearing from legal representatives of the woman's medical team, which stated that the fetus in such early development had little to no chance of survival while its mother remained on life support, the panel agreed that withdrawing life support would be in the best interests of the mother and the fetus.
"The entire medical evidence in this case goes one way only" panel judge and representative of the Irish High Court, Justice Nicholas Kearns says. "And [the only option] is to establish that the prospects for a successful delivery of a live baby in this case are virtually nonexistent."
Though the Eight Amendment in the Irish Constitution provides equal protection to both mother and unborn fetus, Justice Kearns also said, in an earlier hearing, that the current case has particular complications that make this constitutional amendment inapplicable. Stating that the case does not "appear to be an abortion case at all", Judge Kearns expressed his consensus with the panel in their decision saying that to continue life support on the mother would simply put the fetus in "a perfect storm from which it has no realistic prospect of emerging alive.
It is still unclear as to whether or not the current case in question will establish a precedent that further justices will allow, however, many doctors whom consulted on the case say that they did not believe there was sufficient medical evidence to justify continued life support. Clinical Director at the Rotunda Maternity Hospital, treating the woman, told the court on Friday that he did not believe there was justification for continuing the mother's life via medical support, and that to demand her continued vegetative state would "be going from the extreme to the grotesque."
The Associated Press reported later on Friday, that the mother, whose name was not released because of legal reasons, was taken off of life support shortly after the court rendered its decision.
