Varsha Jagadesham, Barrister, No5
In recent years, there has been a number of high-profile cases where the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from children has been opposed by their parents on the basis of their religious beliefs regarding the sanctity of life.
This article explores the leading case in this area of Fixsler v Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust [2021] EWCA Civ 1018, [2022] 2 FLR 396, where the Court of Appeal grappled not only with whether the parents’ religious beliefs meant that life-sustaining treatment should not be withdrawn; but also, to what extent the child as someone born into their faith could be considered to share those beliefs given her age and condition, and therefore what role the element of substituted decision-making has in such cases.
The full article will be published in the October issue of Family Law.
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Read the full article here.