(Nov. 10) - A 1-year-old boy at the center of a right-to-life case in Britain will be removed from life support after his father made the "agonizingly difficult decision" to drop his opposition to the move, British media reported Tuesday.
Baby RB, as the child is known in court papers, was born with congenital myasthenic syndrome, or CMS, a rare neuromuscular condition that severely limits his abilities to breathe and move his limbs. He has been on a ventilator since his birth in October 2008 and has never left the hospital.
Doctors sought High Court permission to remove the child from life support, saying he had a "miserable and pitiful" existence. The mother endorsed the application. "In her mind, the intolerable suffering experienced by her son must outweigh her own personal grief should she lose her child," her lawyer said in a court hearing, according to The Times of London.
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But Baby RB's father fought to keep him alive, arguing that his son showed signs of "purposeful movement" when shown toys, the Daily Telegraph said. The father even held out hope that his son could one day be cared for at home, although doctors said they didn’t believe that would be possible.
The parents, identified only as Miss KM and Mr. AB, are separated. The are both in their 20s.
But on the seventh day of the High Court hearing, the father said he changed his mind.
"This has been an agonizingly difficult decision," said a joint statement issued by lawyers in the case. "RB's parents now would wish to spend what little time remains with their beloved son."
The judge said he would allow life support to be withdrawn, with palliative care to make sure the child did not suffer.
It was a "sad but in my view inevitable outcome" and the "only tenable one for RB," said the judge, Andrew McFarlane.
He praised both parents' dedication to their son.
"During the past 13 months, both KM and AB have discharged their responsibility to their son in a manner which has been described by all who have seen it in superlative terms," McFarlane said, according to the Guardian.
"When faced with the awfulness of the situation in which they found themselves, these two young people have stepped up to the plate and discharged the responsibility that life had thrust upon them by each showing 100 percent commitment to their child in a manner which can only command profound respect and admiration."
