Experts praise French move on right not to be born

By Patricia Reaney


LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Medical and legal experts praised on Friday a
French move to roll back a controversial court decision that had allowed the
disabled to sue doctors for having allowed them to be born.

The bill, adopted by the French parliament on Thursday, limits people born
disabled from seeking compensation but allows parents to sue if the
disability was due to medical error.

The new bill says nobody can claim to have been harmed simply by being born.

It followed an earlier court decision that had outraged doctors, religious
groups and the handicapped by allowing severely handicapped teenager Nicolas
Perruche to sue doctors in what has been described as a "wrongful life" case
for being born rather than aborted.

The decision had been upheld by the France's highest appeal court and had
been used in two other cases.

"It think on the whole it is a good move," said Dr Piers Benn, a lecturer in
medical ethics at Imperial College School of Medicine in London.

"Our attitudes towards the creation of life and the idea that life might be
thought to be a gift is undermined by adopting a litigious attitude towards
the properties you are born with."

LEGAL, ETHICAL DILEMMA

The initial landmark judgment in 2000 had wide-ranging legal and ethical
implications and caused a national debate on abortion and disability in
France.

It also raised fears of an increase in abortions and resulted in raised
insurance premiums for doctors. Some gynaecologists and obstetricians began a
strike, and disabled groups described the judgment as demeaning.

"We are pleased that the French government has rejected the disturbing,
discriminatory judgment by the French court which effectively said that
disabled people have a less worthy and lower quality of life than people
without disability," said David Congdon of the Royal Society for Mentally
Handicapped Children and Adults (MENCAP) in London.

"Children born with disabilities will enjoy their life, contribute to their
community and enrich the lives of those around them. To say that they have
the right not to be born is to deny them the most basic human right," he
added.

Perruche's mother Josette had been exposed to rubella, or German measles,
early in her pregnancy. His parents said they would have aborted their son if
they had not been told there was no danger.

Nicolas, now 18, is deaf and nearly blind, cannot speak and is cared for in
an institution.

His parents won compensation for themselves in an earlier trial and fought a
second case on his behalf in which the court awarded more damages.

Defenders of the decision, upheld in France's highest court, said it was to
ensure disabled people, who often outlive their parents, could seek
compensation to pay for their future care.

But critics warned it could open the floodgates for lawsuits against doctors
if parents were not satisfied with their babies.

The estimated cost of bringing up a disabled child is three times greater
than for a non-disabled youngster, MENCAP says.

The bill must still pass through the upper house of parliament.

09:30 01-11-02

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