After death of Archie Battersbee, leading Catholic bioethics centre criticises “what seems to be a systematic lack of respect in English law for the role and responsibilities of parents in such cases”
A leading Catholic bioethics agency has called for changes in the law and a government review to be conducted into the handling of parent/hospital relations after the trauma experienced by the parents of 12 year old Archie Battersbee, who passed away this week.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre is an Oxford-based research institute serving the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Established in 1977, the Centre promotes the study of Catholic bioethics in service of the common good.
On Saturday the Centre issued a statement calling on the government to make urgent changes so that “such conflicts can be averted in the future”.
“It is with great sadness that we hear that Archie Battersbee has passed away,” the Centre said.
“It is a death which will be made all the harder to bear for Archie’s parents as it results from the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment against their strenuous objections.
“This decision has come after four hearings in the High Court, two in the Appeals Court, two decisions by the Supreme Court, one by the European Court of Human Rights and an intervention by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In law, Barts Health NHS Trust has prevailed over the parents of the child; but this is surely a Pyrrhic victory. No one wins when decisions are made in a way that increases the distress of those who will feel the loss most deeply.
“The court battle over Archie Battersbee’s care is the latest example of the dying of children becoming complicated by unresolved conflict between parents and hospital authorities. It seems clear that there are serious problems with the current clinical, interpersonal, ethical, and legal approach to these situations.”
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has called on the Secretary of State for Health to act urgently to bring into force section 177 of the Health and Care Act 2022 [3] which states that The Secretary of State must arrange for the carrying out of a review into the causes of disputes between (on the one hand) persons with parental responsibility for a critically ill child and (on the other) persons responsible for the provision of care or medical treatment for the child as part of the health service in England.
“The tragic case of Archie Battersbee must lead to reform so that such conflicts can be averted in the future,” said the Centre.
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FULL TEXT OF STATEMENT FROM THE ANSCOMBE BIOETHICS CENTRE:
The court battle over Archie Battersbee’s care is the latest example of the dying of children becoming complicated by unresolved conflict between parents and hospital authorities. It seems clear that there are serious problems with the current clinical, interpersonal, ethical, and legal approach to these situations.
The Anscombe Bioethics Centre has drawn attention to what seems to be a systematic lack of respect in English law for the role and responsibilities of parents in such cases [1]. We have also drawn attention to persistent failures in clinical practice in relation to the dignity of people who have profound disabilities [2].
The Centre therefore calls on the Secretary of State for Health to act urgently to bring into force section 177 of the Health and Care Act 2022 [3] which states that:
(1) The Secretary of State must arrange for the carrying out of a review into the causes of disputes between (on the one hand) persons with parental responsibility for a critically ill child and (on the other) persons responsible for the provision of care or medical treatment for the child as part of the health service in England.
(2) The Secretary of State must publish and lay before Parliament a report on the outcome of the review, within one year beginning with the date on which this section comes into force.
The tragic case of Archie Battersbee must lead to reform so that such conflicts can be averted in the future.
Our last thoughts and our prayers are for Archie’s family, and for Archie himself. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
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