Jailed Edmonton mom asks court to keep Baby M on life support
A gavel rests on top of a desk in the courtroom of the Black Police Precinct and Courthouse Museum in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Parents facing abuse charges had 20 minutes each today to say their final goodbyes after a Canadian court ruled their 2-year-old daughter should be removed from life support.
The mother, in jail awaiting trial along with the father, had filed a petition to stop doctors from removing a ventilator keeping the girl alive.
However, the Supreme Court of Canada closed for the day without rendering a decision, The Canadian Press reported.
Responding to a 9-1-1 call in May, paramedics found the starving little girl in cardiac arrest with a head injury.
The girl, who courts only identify as “M,” has a twin sister who is recovering in protective custody.
Their older brother – who is also in foster care – appeared to be in good health.
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The Edmonton, Alberta parents – recent immigrants from Algeria – are accused of beating and starving their daughters.
Doctors said M will never recover, CBC News reported.
They weighed 16 and 13 pounds, respectively, when police intervened.
A lower court earlier ruled that keeping the girl alive wasn’t in her best interests.
The decision to remove her from life support is called a landmark decision, the Edmonton Journal reported.
“The sanctity of human life is one of the core values of our society and justice system, but life is not without end,” Justice Frans Slatter wrote in an earlier ruling, according to the Journal.
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