{"id":10822,"date":"2017-07-11T10:51:43","date_gmt":"2017-07-11T09:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=10822"},"modified":"2025-06-30T19:11:24","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:11:24","slug":"charlie-gard-cant-parents-decide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/charlie-gard-cant-parents-decide\/","title":{"rendered":"Charlie Gard: Why can’t his parents decide?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Charlie<\/a>
Charlie Gard in Great Ormond Street Hospital<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Stop Press (24\/07\/2017)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charlie’s parents have ended their fight after a US doctor said it was now too late to treat their baby<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0What would have happened had Great Ormond Street Hospital simply allowed them to take him to the US in March, we shall never know.<\/p>\n

(And do read Canon Giles Fraser on this matter in the Guardian<\/a><\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Original article:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Many of us are now asking one question above all in the case of Charlie Gard. \u00a0Why does the judge not simply allow his parents to do what they think is best for their baby?<\/p>\n

What is wrong with Charlie Gard?<\/h2>\n

Charlie Gard has a\u00a0very rare mitochondrial disease, says an explanation in the Guardian<\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0His mitochondria are failing to supply energy to the cells in his body. This mitochondrial failure is leading to damage to his body’s organs.<\/p>\n

Charlie is in intensive care at Great Ormond Street hospital in London. \u00a0Life support machines are keeping him alive because he cannot breathe by himself. The doctors say he has severe brain damage, and his heart, liver and kidneys are also affected.<\/p>\n

However, Charlie\u2019s mother, Connie Yates, told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme on Monday that her son is responsive, enjoying tickles and watching videos with his parents. She also said that she had yet to see proof that her son had irreversible brain damage.<\/p>\n

But the doctors say Charlie Gard\u00a0‘should be allowed to die with dignity’. \u00a0That just means die, in plain language. \u00a0Mr Justice Francis, sitting in the High Court, agreed death would be in Charlie’s ‘best interests’. \u00a0How is that?<\/p>\n

American hospital would treat Charlie<\/h2>\n
\"Charlie<\/a>
Charlie Gard with his parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Moreover, Charlie Gard’s parents, Chris Gard and Miss Yates, have raised over a million pounds to take Charlie to a hospital in the United States. \u00a0Doctors there are offering\u00a0nucleoside therapy, an experimental drug treatment. \u00a0It might not even work. \u00a0It probably could not reverse what has already been damaged.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, according to the BBC<\/a><\/strong>, the family’s lawyers say ‘cutting edge genetic science’ gives a ‘small chance’ of brain recovery. \u00a0It is a chance ‘worth taking’. The Bible agrees with that positive view:<\/p>\n

Ecclesiastes 9:4 For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is better than a dead lion.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The parents have taken the case to the Court of Appeal. \u00a0They even went to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. \u00a0But all agreed that to prolong Charlie\u2019s life would risk causing him further suffering. \u00a0The European Court gave permission for the hospital to switch off Charlie Gard’s life support systems. They said further treatment would not help him.<\/p>\n

Pope and President Trump intervene<\/h2>\n

But then Pope Francis offered the services of the Bambino Ges\u00f9<\/a> paediatric hospital\u2019s neurosciences department in the Vatican. \u00a0President Trump also expressed his support for the parents.<\/p>\n

In addition, commentators in the United States are amazed at our legal process and decisions. \u00a0News Channel 3 reports a CNN wire on the story<\/a><\/strong> with astonishment: \u00a0‘Courts will not allow the hospital to release the baby, Charlie Gard, into the parents\u2019 custody so they can travel to try an experimental treatment.’<\/p>\n

\"Support<\/a>
Support for Charlie Gard has gone global.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The difference is that in the US, law begins with parental rights. \u00a0Here parents’ rights come second to the enforcement of parental responsibility to raise their children as the state sees best. \u00a0This is coupled with the nebulous ‘best interests of the child’.<\/p>\n

Consequently, Great Ormond Street and Justice Francis have taken to themselves the parental rights of Mr Gard and Miss Yates. \u00a0Such a statist, secularist position simply cannot be right.<\/p>\n

The Bible says:\u00a0Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.<\/strong>\u00a0 It does not say those children are a heritage of the State. \u00a0Parental responsibility is grounded in parental rights.<\/p>\n

People worldwide have given Charlie Gard’s parents huge financial and moral support. \u00a0Plainly the Biblical position strikes a chord in the public mind. \u00a0The parents have the money. \u00a0They are not asking the NHS to pay for anything. \u00a0Why can’t they go?<\/p>\n

The case goes back to the High Court on Thursday. \u00a0Let us pray for a righteous outcome. \u00a0If not, the law must change.<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stop Press (24\/07\/2017) Charlie’s parents have ended their fight after a US doctor said it was now too late to treat their baby. \u00a0What would have happened had Great Ormond Street Hospital simply allowed them to take him to the US in March, we shall never know. (And do read Canon Giles Fraser on this 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Social Services & Child Abduction<\/a> UK Christian Constitution<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Stop Press (24\/07\/2017) Charlie’s parents have ended their fight after a US doctor said it was now too late to treat their baby. \u00a0What would have happened had Great Ormond Street Hospital simply allowed them to take him to the US in March, we shall never know. (And do read Canon Giles Fraser on this…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}