CASE STUDY: #2

In August 2000, a young woman from Gozo, an island south of Italy, discovered that
she was carrying conjoined twins. Knowing that health-care facilities on Gozo were
inadequate to deal with the complications of such a birth, she and her husband went to
St. Mary’s Hospital in Manchester, England, to have the babies delivered. The infants,
known as Mary and Jodie, were joined at the lower abdomen. Their spines were fused,
and they had one heart and one pair of lungs between them. Jodie, the stronger one,
was providing blood for her sister.
No one knows how many sets of conjoined twins are born each year, but the number
has been estimated at 200. Most die shortly after birth, but some conjoined twins do
well. They grow to adulthood and marry and have children themselves. But the outlook
for Mary and Jodie was grim. The doctors said that without intervention the girls would
die within six months. The only hope was an operation to separate them. This would
save Jodie, but Mary would die immediately.
The parents, who were devout Catholics, refused permission for the operation on the
grounds that it would hasten Mary’s death. “We believe that nature should take its
course,” they said. “if it is God’s will that both our children should not survive, then so be
it.” The hospital, hoping to save at least of the infant, petitioned the courts for
permission to separate them over the parent’s objections. The court granted
permission, and the operation was performed. As expected, Jodie lived and Mary died.
Questions
1. Who should make the decision from the question of what the decision should be?
It really hard to know who should make the decision because it is a very complex
matters about ethics and morality. I really felt bad for the parents having an
excruciating pain because of their circumstances. Looking in the both side of the
circumstances, Jodie is much stronger than Mary and also Mary’s life is almost
dependent in her sister, if they both lived its either one of them died. Personally,
the hardest question here is should we kill the one to live or, should we let die the
both of them. This is very complex case and it need a strong grip about morality
and ethics. In this case, the parent is a devout Catholics, their morality and
ethical standard is encompassing the law of God, the parents believe in God’s
law meanwhile, the Professional believes on their ethical standard base on their
working ethics as doctors and judge. The doctors, just want Jodie to live to
prolong her life, because that is oath of the doctor, to save lives, no matter or
how hard the situation is. In my opinion, let the parents decide, because that is
their children no matter what happen, they need to choose what is the best for
their children or, for them. I know God moves in mysterious way and he let this
circumstance to teach us wisdom about how we judged complex things.

2.Would it be right or wrong, in these circumstances, to separate the twins?

In perspective of people who believes in God’s laws, it is unethically and morally
incorrect because they believed that killing innocent life, causes a big sin and they
believed that if it’s God will, then let it be, just like the parents of the twins.

But in perspective of experts, like the doctors and lawyers. They are more inclined
in preservation of life, or preserving the life of Jodie because they believed that if
they’re not separated, their condition might harm them and eventually kill them.

In my opinion, as a Christian, it is hard to said there is wrong if they let Jodie to live
because as Christian it is also the best for us to save the life of Mary. but without
being bias in my religion, I will consider the lawyers to decide because it is also the
right of Jodie lived, but overall, it is upon on the decision of their parents, sadly to
say the laws are the one that decide.