Withholding treatment and allowing sick newborn babies to die when treatment would do more harm than good should not be confused with euthanasia, a Christian medical organisation has said.
Dr Peter Saunders, general secretary of the Christian Medical Fellowship, was responding to a report that the Church of England said doctors should be given the right to withhold treatment from seriously-disabled newborn babies in exceptional circumstances.
The contentious position was made by the Bishop of Southwark, the Rev Tom Butler, in a submission to an inquiry by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics into critical care decisions in foetal and neonatal medicine, the Observer reports.
The inquiry is due to publish its report on Thursday, examining the ethical, social and legal issues which may arise when making such decisions.
The church's submission reportedly said that while it could not accept the argument that the life of any baby is not worth living, there were "strong proportionate reasons" for "overriding the presupposition that life should be maintained".
"There may be occasions where, for a Christian, compassion will override the 'rule' that life should inevitably be preserved," the Rev Butler wrote. "Disproportionate treatment for the sake of prolonging life is an example of this."
Dr Saunders said he agreed that in some cases withdrawing or withholding treatment would be appropriate.
"If it's an underlying condition that's causing the death and you're withholding the treatment because you believe that that treatment's burden far outweighs any benefit it can bring, then it might be quite appropriate," he said.
"There's a point in medicine where we say enough is enough, and sometimes the treatment can be worse than the disease. And in those cases it is good medical judgment to withhold."
Dr Saunders warned that it should not be confused with intentionally ending the life of a patient, as in euthanasia.
