Re A (conjoined twins)

Re A (conjoined twins)
Court	Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Decided	22 September 2000
Citation(s)	[2001] 2 WLR 480, [2000] 3 FCR 577, [2000] HRLR 721, [2001] Fam Law 18, [2000] Lloyd's Rep Med 425, [2001] Fam 147, [2000] EWCA Civ 254, 9 BHRC 261, (2001) 57 BMLR 1, [2000] 4 All ER 961, [2000] Lloyds Rep Med 425, [2001] 1 FLR 1, [2001] UKHRR 1
Case history
Prior action(s)	Declaration of lawfulness to proposed surgery in the High Court
Court membership
Judge(s) sitting	Lord Justice Ward, Lord Justice Brooke, Lord Justice Robert Walker
Case opinions
Appeal dismissed; however reasoning of single judge disapproved, decision made on fresh basis.
Keywords
Necessity Medical law moral dilemma surgery bringing about death of weaker conjoined twin lawfulness

Re A^[a] (conjoined twins) [2001] 2 WLR 480^[1] is a Court of Appeal (England and Wales) decision on the separation of conjoined twins. The case raised legal and ethical dilemmas. It was ruled it would be permissible to sever and thus kill in a palliative, sympathetic manner the weaker twin to save the much stronger one.^[2] The case was among those where it would be lawful to conduct surgery against the wishes of the parents. The parents' faith was held not to be overriding, nor general applicability of the outcome to all such cases.

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