CONTROVERSIAL OPERATION UNDER WAY TO SEPARATE TWIN GIRLS
WebPosted Mon Nov  6 08:44:45 2000

MANCHESTER, U.K.--Doctors in England have started an operation to 
separate a pair of conjoined twins &#150 a procedure that will give one 
sister a chance to live and will kill the other. 

 The parents of "Jodie" and "Mary" didn't want the operation. They're 
Roman Catholic and said God should decide the girls' fate. 

 But the courts intervened and ruled the separation necessary. 

 The case has been controversial, with a late appeal by the Pro-Life 
Alliance, an anti-abortion group. A judge rejected that appeal on 
Friday. 

 The 15-hour operation at St. Mary's Hospital in Manchester is 
complicated, as the three-month-old girls are joined at the abdomen and 
have a fused spine. 

 Jodie is the stronger sister and doctors expect she will survive. But 
the sisters share Jodie's lungs and heart, so the weaker Mary will die. 

 Up to 20 medical personnel are involved in the operation. 

 
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