PROCEEDINGS REGARDING SIAMESE TWINS, JODIE AND MARY 28 September 2000

Archbishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor made the following comment in response to the announcement made today by Laurence Oates, the Official Solicitor, that he would not appeal the Court of Appeal's decision to the House of Lords:


'I can well understand that the parents of Mary and Jodie feel unable to continue what has become an arduous and protracted legal process, and one which they did not initiate. My thoughts and prayers are with them and their two children at this difficult time.'


COMMENT ON THE JUDGEMENT BY THE COURT OF APPEAL 22 September 2000

'The Court of Appeal has given very careful consideration to this case, in which everyone involved has been seeking to do what is for the best. I have not had an opportunity yet to read the judgement and so cannot comment on the reasons given by the Court.

'In expressing a number of anxieties about this case I have been particularly concerned that a precedent might be set in English law that could allow an innocent person lawfully to be killed or lethally assaulted, even to prolong the life of another. If such a precedent has indeed been set I would have profound misgivings about the Court's decision.'

I have the greatest sympathy for the parents in their present distress.