Family of terminally ill woman rejects hospital plea to appeal mercy killing

SEOUL, Dec. 18 (Yonhap) -- A family seeking the "mercy killing" of a woman in a vegetative state decided to block a hospital's bid to appeal a court's ruling to cut off her life support system, the family's attorney said Thursday.

"We will exercise the patient's rights in accordance with the legal procedures
stipulated in the Constitution," said Baek Kyung-hee, a legal representative of
the family. The Severance Hospital needs the consent of the family, the
plaintiffs, in order to appeal directly to the Supreme Court.
The hospital announced on Wednesday that it will bypass the state's high court
and go straight to the Supreme Court against a district court's decision
recognizing the patients' right to "die with dignity."
"The hospital said that it wanted to save time, but we are focused on natural
death for the patient under the right procedures, not on how fast the artificial
respiratory device is removed," the attorney said in a statement.
"It should respect the patient and drop the appeal," she added.
The case now would go to the state's high court, should the hospital still want
to appeal.
The family of the terminally ill woman, identified only by her surname Kim,
sought a court's approval in June to remove the respiratory device as she has no
chance of recovery. The woman suffered cerebral damage and fell into a coma while
receiving a lung examination in February.
Seoul's district court ordered the hospital on Nov. 28 to turn off the
life-support equipment for the 75-year-old woman, marking the country's first
ruling involving a mercy killing.
brk@yna.co.kr
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