There is a very sick baby named Charlie Gard in the UK. Baby Charlie is currently on life support and his parents want to take him to the United States for what is a pioneering and experimental treatment. But doctors and judges are saying no. They’ve decided to remove baby Charlie from life support.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates want their nine-month-old son Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, to undergo a therapy trial in the United States.
But specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, where Charlie is being cared for, said the therapy is experimental and will not help. They argued that life-support treatment should stop.
In the High Court last month, Mr Justice Francis concluded that life-support treatment should end and said Charlie should be allowed die with dignity.
He said judges should not interfere with parents’ exercise of parental rights and added: “What is really at stake in this case is the State, on a massive scale, intruding in your right to private and family life.”
Lawyers, who represented Charlie’s parents for free, said Mr Justice Francis had not given enough weight to Charlie’s human right to life.
They said there was no risk that the proposed therapy in the US would cause Charlie “significant harm”. Mr Gard shook his head as appeal judges announced their decision. Charlie’s parents then left court to hold discussions with lawyers.
Horrible.
Say, isn’t the UK the greatest health care system in the world which Americans are always being told we should emulate?
Judges have decided that it’s best for the baby to die. But what they mean is that it’s best for society not to have to foot the bill to prolong his life.
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