European Court of Human Rights stops the dehydration death of Vincent Lambert.

By Alex Schadenberg
International Chair - Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Vincent Lambert

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, on June 24 ordered France to continue providing food and water to Vincent Lambert, a man who was injured in a motorbike accident in 2008. The decision by the European Court of Human Rights came hours after a French court ordered that food and water be discontinued for Lambert.

Reuters News reported that:

The court's request is set to delay by months or even years the outcome of a legal battle where Lambert's parents are resisting his wife Rachel's attempts to withdraw life support. 

The Strasbourg-based court said in a statement the case would be treated "according to the fastest procedure possible". A spokesman there acknowledged that even emergency procedures can take months or up to one or two years.

Pierre & Viviane Lambert

The Associated Press reported that Jean Paillot, a lawyer for Lambert's parents said:

"He is not sick, he is not at the end of his life, he is not suffering," 

"From our perspective, there is no reason to stop feeding or hydrating him."

To intentionally withdraw fluids from a person who is not otherwise dying is a form of euthanasia by omission. The person will directly and intentionally die from dehydration and not from a medical condition. 

It is not a natural death, it is not without suffering and it is not a dignified death.