Court supports bid to end life of crash victim

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has upheld a French court ruling that doctors can withdraw life support from a car crash victim in a coma since 2008, whose case has divided his family and challenged France’s stand on euthanasia, writes Tom Heneghan.

Vincent Lambert’s mother, who with his father and two siblings fought against withdrawing life support, vowed to appeal the ruling in French courts. Lambert’s wife and five other siblings claim he said before his accident that he never wanted to be kept alive in a vegetative state and life support should be stopped.

President François Hollande supports “death with dignity”, which some take to mean he wants to legalise euthanasia. But continued disputes make it politically difficult to follow the example of neighbouring Belgium and the Netherlands.