Matters of Life & Death: Archie Battersbee 1: The invention of ‘brain death’, a breakdown in trust, the child’s best interests, and how to turn off life support

2022-08-24T17:00:00+01:00

Twelve-year-old Archie Battersbee died on 7 August, after months of legal wrangling between doctors who believed he was brain dead and wished to end life support, and his family who resisted this. This tragic case has captured a lot of media attention, and in this episode we try to unpick some of the complicated medical and ethical challenges thrown up by the story. Why is it so much harder today than in the past to actually determine if a person has died? How can, and should, the courts overrule the wishes of a child’s parents regarding medical treatment (or its withdrawal)? And can Christians be pro-life and anti-euthanasia, while still supporting the doctors’ wish to allow Archie to die?

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If you want to go deeper into some of the topics we discuss, find more resources to read, listen to and watch at John’s website: http://www.johnwyatt.com

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Matters of Life & Death: Archie Battersbee 1: The invention of ‘brain death’, a breakdown in trust, the child’s best interests, and how to turn off life support

Topics

Related articles

Matters of Life & Death: Martin Rees 1: Advances in artificial intelligence, the Eliza effect, passing the Turing Test, and the problem of other minds

Matters of Life & Death: Archie Battersbee 2: Doubts over the brain scans, the end of ‘doctor knows best’, sucked into the culture wars and protective power of attorney

Unbelievable? Is there as much reason to believe in an evil God as a good God? Max Baker-Hytch vs Asha Lancaster-Thomas hosted by Vince Vitale

More from Matters of Life and Death

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Matter of Life & Death: Q&A: Did ending Roe v Wade actually save unborn children’s lives, and have we got food culture wrong in church?

Matters of Life & Death: ADHD, over-diagnosis and should Christians enhance our brains with stimulants?