This case is horrific on many different levels. Charlie Gard is an infant in Britain with a rare disease that his parents raised money to treat in the United States. However, the almighty European Court of Human Rights (really?) has told the parents that they cannot take Charlie to be treated, that the plug will be pulled and he will die now.

First of all, Big Brother has decided who gets to live and who must die. Have we really given that much authority to our governments?

Secondly, the Court has usurped the legal authority of parents to care for their children as they see fit.

Thirdly, the Court’s argument is specious, ruling that Charlie must not live on the grounds that he is “likely in pain.” So, what? If I break a leg I will be in terrible pain, and I will gladly invite even more pain to set the bone, understanding that that is the path to healing. That is MY decision! Not Big Brother’s. I DO NOT want to be terminated for a broken leg because some quack argues that death will stop the pain in my leg! And whether Charlie is in pain or not, the decision to treat him or not treat him should rest with Charlie’s parents, legally, ethically, and morally, not a panel of unfeeling robed clowns.

From The Daily Caller

Ten-month-old Charlie Gard was sentenced to die by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Tuesday, who ruled against potentially life-saving treatment for him.

The ECHR ordered that Gard’s life support be shut off and blocked him from travel to the U.S. for an experimental treatment for which Gard’s parents raisedover $1.7 million. Doctors diagnosed the infant boy with a rare mitochondrial disease, according to a report from Daily Mail. The court labeled the Gard’s appeal case “inadmissible” and upheld the previous decision of the U.K. High Court, saying their decision in Gard’s case was “final.”

“Subjecting him to nucleoside therapy is unknown territory — it has never even been tested on mouse models — but it may, or may not, subject the patient to pain, possibly even to mutations,” wrote Justice Francis in the High Court’s judgment. “But if Charlie’s damaged brain function cannot be improved, as all seem to agree, then how can he be any better off than he is now, which is in a condition that his parents believe should not be sustained?”

Francis then concluded that the hospital “may lawfully withdraw all treatment, save for palliative care, to permit Charlie to die with dignity.”

Gard was born with encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS), which causes gradual muscle weakening and brain damage. Doctors at Ormond counseled Gard’s parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, to remove Gard’s ventilator in March and said it would be best for Gard to “die with dignity.” Gard’s parents refused on the grounds that they wanted to take Gard to the U.S. for a treatment known as nucleoside, which a doctor from the U.S. said he would be willing to perform.

Pursuant to U.K. law, the hospital appealed to the U.K. High Court, who ruled in favor of the hospital and blocked travel to the U.S. for Gard and his parents. An appeals court and the London Supreme Court struck down appeals from Gard’s parents, who then turned to the ECHR, but the court did not intervene on their behalf.

Dr. Brian Callister of Nevada, who has spoken out against assisted suicide and euthanasia, said the court’s decision was contemptible.

“To withdraw life support against somebody’s will when they have hope of a treatment that either could extend their life or, who knows how long it could extend it, who knows what kind of quality of life may or may not be available — to take away that hope and say ‘you’re life is worth nothing’ I think is wrong on every level,” Callister told The Daily Caller News Foundation. “It’s wrong on a human level. It’s wrong on any basic level of medical ethics, and there are medical ethicists out there in Europe and the United States who think that’s just fine. I think they’ve got a screw loose.”

The courts cited reports from expert counsel, which said that Gard was likely in pain and was suffering. However, Callister said that while it was possible that Gard was in pain, pain and suffering are subjective terms and typically are not the reasons that people legally end their lives, according to data from the state of Oregon.

“Pain is not even in the top five — doesn’t even make the top five of reasons listed in Oregon of people that commit assisted suicide,” Callister said. “It doesn’t make the top five. Burden to family, loss of autonomy —those are the top reasons people kill themselves legally.”

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