Perhaps you’ve been following the sad case of British baby, Charlie Gard. The 11-month-old suffers from a condition known as mitochondrial depletion syndrome. Which is a recessive disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness and ultimately death.
In a very real sense, little Charlie not only suffers from the disease he is afflicted with, but he is now falling victim to the system of government that he and his parents – Chris Gard and Connie Yates – live under. Yes, because of this, Charlie’s parents are not allowed to decide whether they’ll take him elsewhere for experimental treatments. Instead, they must plead for permission from the Almighty British courts.
American doctors have already agreed to utilize a new experimental treatment on Charlie, but British doctors believe his condition to be irreversible and oppose his being taken to the United States. Today a British judge told Charlie’s parents that they could present more evidence at a hearing next week, but that it must be new and relevant to the case.
Baby Charlie has garnered support from across the globe. His parents have raised around $1.7 million in order to bring him to the U.S. for the treatments. Folks like Pope Francis, President Trump, and others have expressed their support. All that is standing between Baby Charlie and perhaps his parent’s final hope for a miracle is the British state.
I hope that Americans are paying attention. While the Republocrats and Demipublicans on Capitol Hill argue over which government-run health care system we should have in the United States – and while others hang in the balance hoping it all leads to single payer health care – we have an example in front of us of where it all can lead.
I don’t know if these experimental treatments for little Charlie Gard would work. But I do know this… government shouldn’t prevent his parents from finding out. His father, Chris, summed it up best with one word in court today… “evil”.
Source:
1. http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/charlie-gards-mom-storms-out-of-court-dad-mouths-evil-as-new-mri-scans-revealed/ar-AAoyMxU?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp
