British judge says life support treatment can end for a brain-damaged pastor who’s in a coma

LONDON (AP) — A London judge says life support treatment can be stopped for a brain-damaged English pastor in a coma. Justice Anthony Hayden says it would be “burdensome and futile” to continue kidney dialysis. The Pentecostal minister’s family had appealed a decision by a Manchester area health authority to end his care, arguing that his faith required him to be kept alive as long as possible and his death could only be determined by God. The pastor, who is in his 50s and was not named, has significant brain damage after suffering a stroke during dialysis 18 months ago.