LONDON, Aug. 28 (CWNews.com)

    Catholics and Muslims have reacted angrily to a judge's decision that one Siamese twin must die to give the other the chance of a normal life.

    Jodie and Mary (not their real names) were born conjoined on August 8 in St. Mary's Hospital in Manchester. Only Jodie has lungs and the twins share a damaged heart which is struggling to supply oxygen to them both. Doctors have given them a maximum of six months to live unless they are separated.

    On Friday, High Court Judge Mr. Justice Johnson ordered the surgical separation of the girls against the wishes of their Catholic parents, even though the operation means that the weaker baby will die. Without separation, the babies would probably die in three to six months.

    A spokesman for the Catholic Church told the Sunday Telegraph that it was never defensible to take the life of one person in order to save the life of another. "We need to ask whether it can ever be right to deliberately take one life in order to save another," he said.

    Moyin Uddin, a spokesman for the East London Mosque, said: "The general view of Islam is that life and death are in the hands of the Almighty alone, and human beings should not play God. On that basis, you could say that perhaps it is better to leave things as they are rather than take any decision to intervene."

    In a statement read to the court, the babies' parents said: "Everyone has the right to life, so why should we kill one of our daughters to enable the other one to survive? That is not God's will."

    The statement continued: "We have very strong feelings that neither of our children should receive any medical treatment. We certainly do not want separation surgery to go ahead as we know and have been told very clearly that it will result in the death of our daughter Mary."

    Giving his judgment, Mr. Justice Johnson said: "For Jodie, separation means the expectation of a normal life; for Mary it means death. Little wonder that the parents are overwhelmed by the circumstances that confront them. They love, love dearly, both their children, but they love them equally and simply cannot bring themselves to choose life for one at this frightful cost to the other."

    Meanwhile, an Italian cardinal has offered a safe haven and free medical treatment for twin girls in his diocese. Cardinal Ersilio Tonini, Archbishop Emeritus of Ravenna, said the family can receive "indefinite and completely free medical services" and an apartment in an Italian hospital as soon as they wish. The family has not yet made a decision, while they also consider an appeal of the court decision.

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