Here is a link to a story in the National Right to Life News about an important case in England. The British take on the case can be found here.
The Bland case (1993) authorized English courts to allow the withdrawal of artifically provided food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS). A copy of the House of Lords’ opinion in Bland can be found here. The current case, which is now being heard in the Court of Protection, argues for an extension of this principle to patients who are not in a PVS. The patient in the current case–M–is in a “minimally conscious state.” If the court allows the withdrawal of treatment in the M case, then the door will be open to the withdrawal of treatment in many more cases.
Richard M.