A third independent medical examination is being carried out on the British-born Siamese twins Jodie and Mary after judges at the Appeal Court in London said they wanted to allay any concern that they were "rushing to judgement" in the case.
Yesterday, a paediatric cardiologist from Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital in London joined a surgeon from the same hospital to travel to Manchester to assess the twins' condition. They were asked to agree common ground between them and the doctors treating the twins to inform the court in its decision over whether an operation to separate them can go ahead.
They are to report at the end of the week to the Appeal Court, where an appeal by the twins' parents against a High Court decision that they should be separated, although it would mean death for Mary, is being heard.
On the second day of the appeal the judges asked whether Mary, the weaker twin, could be described as an "independent" person.
Mr Simon Taylor, for the parents, who believe separating them is "not God's will", insisted nursing staff at St Mary's Hospital in Manchester, where the twins were born, regarded the girls as individuals and the law should follow their course.
The judges asked whether Mary had been "born alive" since she depended on her sister for heart and lung function and blood supply. Lord Justice Brooke asked of Mary: "What is this creature in the eyes of the law?" And Lord Justice Ward asked whether she could be described as "a person in being", given she had no capacity for an independent existence.
Mr Taylor replied: "Maybe she is relying on her sister, but nevertheless she was born alive."
Lord Justice Ward also pointed to the dilemma facing the court. He said the parents, who owed a duty of care to the girls, could arguably be guilty of the manslaughter of Jodie if they were not separated but guilty of the manslaughter of Mary if the separation went ahead.
Yesterday, Ms Judith Parker, QC, for Jodie, told the court that Mr Justice Johnson had applied the correct test and properly decided it was in Jodie's best interests that the operation should take place.
Ms Parker accepted this would lead to the death of Mary, but she said that in her case there were "no best interests in preserving what is unfortunately a futile life."
Raising the issue of whether the operation involved an invasion of Mary's body that would result in her unlawful killing, several times Lord Justice Brooke held up a photograph of Mary asking how such an operation could be carried out without invading her body.
"The moment the knife goes in to that united body, it touches the body of unhappy little Mary. It is in that second an assault. You fiddle about, re-arrange the plumbing. An hour later you put a clamp on the aorta. You cannot pretend that is not actively engaged in assaulting her integrity. For what justification? None of hers," Lord Justice Ward said.