Matt and Tadhg were born on March 28th, 2022, in the Capital City, of Newgarth, a fictional state with constitutional: American Legal Realism Case Study, QUB, Ireland

Matt and Tadhg were born on March 28th, 2022, in the Capital City, of Newgarth, a fictional state with constitutional jurisprudence and case law similar to that of the Republic of Ireland. During the pregnancy, their mother, Josie, was informed that they would be born twins. During subsequent ultrasounds, it was discovered that the pregnancy would pose an extreme risk for Josie, due to the fact that the twins were conjoined.

Despite the admonishments of her doctors, Josie carried the pregnancy to term and gave birth to Matt and Tadhg. Soon after, she and her partner, David, were informed that the twins would not survive more than a few months if they were to remain conjoined. In effect, the two boys shared systems and organs which were put under enormous strain to keep the two alive, given the underdeveloped state of one of the twins.

After multiple scans, the medical team constructed a plan to separate the twins. However, in all likely scenarios, the weaker twin, Matt, would only survive a couple of hours, at most, when separated from his brother. Tadhg, the stronger of the twins, had a 70% chance of a normal lifespan if the two were separated. If the two had remained conjoined, they would have likely only lived for a couple of months under intensive care. As such, the medical team recommended that the twins be separated.

Josie and David are deeply religious and refused a medical intervention to separate the twins, claiming that authorizing the separation of the twins and thereby causing the death of Matt would violate their own religious beliefs. The medical team was unsure of how to proceed and the time within which the twins could be successfully separated was quickly elapsing. The medical team decided to contact the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of the hospital
to authorize the separation without the consent of the parents.

The CMO asked the medical team to explain the prognosis if the twins were separated. The CMO decides to seek legal and ethical guidance and contacts an ethics committee and lawyer for the hospital about whether to institute court proceedings to authorize the team to separate the twins against the wishes of the parents. Before the CMO receives a response to her request for legal and ethical advice, the team advise her that the condition of the twins has deteriorated and a decision had to be taken immediately as to whether to proceed with the separation.

The CMO decided to authorize the procedure, given the exigency of the circumstances, before receiving the requested ethical and legal advice. Matt and Tadhg are separated successfully, and Matt, unfortunately, passes away a few hours later. Three months later, Tadhg is recovering well from the surgery and is expected to live a long and healthy life. Tadhg and his parents become media sensations and his parents state publicly that they understand the
decision taken by the CEO and have forgiven the hospital for going against their wishes.

The public prosecutor for Newgarth, however, decides to bring charges against the CEO and medical team for murder. The prosecutor feels that there was no lawful basis for the medical intervention that was sure to end the life of Matt prematurely, in favor of increasing the lifespan of Tadgh.

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