Parents of disabled two-year-old girl lose case in European Court

The parents of the two-year old Manchester girl, who has been on life-support since birth, have failed in a bid to get the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to intervene in their case.

The Strictly Orthodox family have argued for the right to take their severely disabled daughter Alta Fixsler to America or Israel for further treatment.

The child has been on life support at Manchester’s Royal Children’s Hospital since birth, and in May, the High Court ruled that Alta, who cannot breathe or eat on her own, could be placed into palliative care or have her life-sustaining treatment withdrawn.

But their lawyer David Foster confirmed on Wednesday that the “extremely disappointed” parents had lost their case in the ECHR.

Foster confirmed on Radio 4’s Today programme that the family had attempted to get the Court to intervene “on a number of grounds.”

As well as “medical disclosure issues” the family had “particularly” stressed how in their opinion the UK court had not given enough weight to their religious beliefs.

“It is a case of the court doing what is in the best interest of the child,” said Foster.

“One of the points the parents were keen to make is that the child has been in this stable condition for two years and therefore moving the child in this case to Israel would not cause her any greater harm or difficulty.”

The lawyer said  that after failing in their bid to get the ECHR involved the family were now “considering the position at the moment.”

He added:”It’s still the case that agreement may be reached.

“We obviously hope that will happen.”