Wow. Anyone else starting to feel the deck is stacked?
Charlie Gard’s parents have privately expressed their concern after discovering that the lawyer appointed to represent their 11-month-old son in court heads a charity that backs assisted dying.
Victoria Butler-Cole, who speaks on Charlie’s behalf in court, is chairman of Compassion in Dying, a sister organisation to Dignity in Dying which campaigns for a change in the law to make assisted dying legal in the UK. Dignity in Dying used to be called the Voluntary Euthanasia Society.
The two charities share the same chief executive and media team and trustees – such as Mrs Butler-Cole – can only sit on one charity if they support the aims of the other. Mrs Butler-Cole was appointed to the role by the publicly-funded state body Cafcass which acts in the best interests of children in court cases.
It’s important to note here that this lawyer is not necessarily doing the will of the parents. The lawyer is the baby’s lawyer. Remember, the parents don’t really have a say here.
This would be like Cecile Richards representing David Daleidin of the Center for Medical Progress in court.
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