Tuesday will mark the end of Archie Battersbee’s (age 12) time on life support, as the court denied his family’s last-ditch request for a postponement of the decision after a failed High Court bid Archie Battersbee life support will be turned off on Tuesday.
After the health secretary intervened on Sunday night to ask the courts to “urgently examine” a plea from the United Nations to continue Archie’s treatment, the parents of Archie were granted a hearing on Monday morning. This came about as a result of the health secretary’s intervention.
His treatment was scheduled to conclude at 2:00 p.m. on Monday at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, which is located in east London.
However, after reviewing the evidence, the judge did not agree to delay the removal of the patient’s life-sustaining therapy for any longer than lunchtime on Tuesday.
The head of the family division at the High Court, Sir Andrew McFarlane, stated that “I conclude there should be no stay granted other than a short stay for the parents to take stock and decide if they want to make any further application to the Supreme Court.” This statement was made in response to the question of whether or not a stay should be granted.
According to the judge, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was the foundation for the request made by the UN committee, is an “unincorporated international convention.”
He stated that “it is not part of the law of the United Kingdom… and it is not acceptable for this court to apply an unincorporated international convention into its decision-making process.” He meant that the law of the United Kingdom does not include this provision.
He continued by saying, “Every day that [Archie] continues to be administered therapy that maintains his life is adverse to his best interests, and as a result, a stay, even for a short time, is against his best interests.”
According to the judge, that is the verdict that has been handed down by the courts in England and Wales.
The court went into a brief recess so that the attorneys who were representing Archie’s parents could speak with Archie’s parents and get their instructions regarding a potential appeal to the Supreme Court for permission to challenge the judgment.
Despite the fact that the justices did not grant authorization to appeal against their verdict at the Supreme Court, Archie’s parents have indicated that they will file an appeal with the nation’s top court.
Hollie Dance, Archie’s mother, issued a statement in which she said the following: “We continue to be horrified and traumatized by the savagery of the UK courts and the hospital trust.”
The desires that we have as parents continue to be disregarded and disregarded. We are unable to comprehend the sense of urgency that is driving this decision.
The hospital trust has never allowed us any opportunity to come to terms with what has occurred in any way, shape, or form.
“There is no possibility that a culture that is humane could treat a family in our situation in this manner. We are not going to give up the fight for Archie.
Hollie Dance, Archie’s mother, delivered her statement outside The Royal London Hospital after the verdict was handed down on Monday. She added, “We made a promise to Archie, we will fight until the end.” And Archie is still putting up a fight.
“If the deadline is tomorrow, then so be it; but, we will be applying to the Supreme Court.”
Ms. Dance has stated that it would not be fair to her kid to turn off the life support system.
She declared, “I have the best interests of my son, Paul, and the siblings, at heart; nobody else has Archie’s best interests at heart.” Paul and the siblings
“And I say, and I still stand by it, that it would be in Archie’s best interests to allow that youngster time to recuperate. I still believe that to be the case.” Give him time to heal, but if he doesn’t recover, he won’t recover. If he doesn’t recover, he won’t recover.
Edward Devereux QC, who was representing Ms. Dance and Mr. Battersbee, claimed that the request made by the UN committee was “binding” under the principles of international law.
However, attorneys representing both the trust and Archie’s guardian contended that the request was not enforceable. Archie’s guardian is an independent expert who has been appointed to make recommendations regarding Archie’s wellbeing.
What happened to Archie Battersbee?
Since Archie was discovered at his house on April 7 with a ligature around his head, he has been unresponsive, and the doctors believe that he has died at the brain stem level.
The conclusion of the High Court, which was upheld by the Court of Appeal, was that the doctors might legally remove his life support if they determined that doing so would be in his best interests.
However, the youngster’s parents, Hollie Dance and Paul Battersbee had requested that he be allowed additional time to make his decision.
Their family of Archie got a letter over the weekend that explained the procedure for withdrawing life support, which was scheduled to take place at 2:00 p.m. on Monday. As a result, they have asked the health secretary to step in and prevent this from happening.
On Monday, a last-ditch hearing was scheduled so that the court might consider granting Archie a stay of execution until the United Nations completed its investigation into the matter.
During the hearing that took place on Monday, attorneys representing the hospital trust that was caring for Archie stated that the intervention by the United Nations did not change how they wanted to proceed and that the court’s order that treatment should end could only be overruled by a new court order.
Fiona Paterson, speaking on behalf of the Barts Health NHS Trust, stated that “the request does not affect the trust’s position in these proceedings,” which is “that as a result of [Mr Justice Hayden’s] order of 15 July, the trust is obliged to cease Archie’s life-sustaining treatment, the learned judge having declared that it is in his best interests to do so.” In other words, the request does not change the fact that the trust is required to stop providing Archie with life
In his decision, Sir Andrew referred to the medical data that had been presented to Mr. Justice Hayden, who had previously decided that the treatment that was keeping Archie alive should be discontinued.
“In short,” the judge stated, “his system, his organs, and ultimately his heart are in the process of shutting down.” The court has always been presented with quite limited choices.
It was either that treatment was withdrawn immediately, resulting in Archie’s death a short while later, or the option preferred by his parents that he would die at some point in the coming weeks – in their words, at a time “chosen by God.” According to Sir Andrew, the options that were presented to the courts on previous occasions were either that treatment was withdrawn immediately, resulting in Archie’s death a short while later.
