Church of England sparks controversy over infant euthanasia

The Church of England believes doctors should be given the right to withhold treatment from some seriously disabled newborn babies in exceptional circumstances, The Observer has reported.

The view comes in a submission from the church to a British medical ethics committee looking at the implications of keeping severely premature babies alive through technological advances, the weekly newspaper said.

The Bishop of Southwark, Tom Butler, was said to have written that "it may in some circumstances be right to choose to withhold or withdraw treatment, knowing it will possibly, probably, or even certainly result in death."

Recently, Britain's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists called for a debate on whether deliberate medical intervention to cause the death of severely disabled new–born babies should be legalized.

The college said it did not necessarily favour the move — which prompted accusations of "social engineering" from disabled groups — but felt the issue should be discussed.

Its views were expressed in a similar submission to the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, which was set up two years ago and which has published its finding.

The Observer reported that the church, led by the head of the world’s Anglicans Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, could not accept the view that the life of any baby is not worth living.

But it added there were "strong proportionate reasons" for "overriding the presupposition that life should be maintained," the weekly added.