A British high court has ruled that a 21-month-old’s life support can end, despite the objections of his parents.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool asked the court to intervene because his current condition, caused by a mystery illness, is “unkind, unfair and inhumane.”
Tom Evans and Kate James are Alfie’s parents. They have been hoping to be able to take their son to Rome for additional medical care. The government overruled the couple, and will not allow these parents to care for their son.
After the court’s ruling, the hospital is now set to withdraw the toddler’s life support on Friday without the approval of his parents. This was determined after being told at a hearing in the Liverpool Civil and Family Court that Alfie is in a “semi-vegetative state”.
Supporters of Alfie and his parents wiped away tears after Justice Hayden announced that he was permitting the hospital to remove life support over the family’s wishes.
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital claims to work with parents on palliative care, but have pushed Alfie’s parents out of the way in order to end his life.
“Unfortunately there are sometimes rare situations such as this where agreement cannot be reached and the treating team believe that continued active treatment is not in a child’s best interests,” the hospital stated.
The family is deciding whether to appeal the court’s verdict. More information on this case is below.
When the government controls healthcare, administrators and judges sometimes have more decision-making power than parents do.
This story is similar to the heartbreak Charlie Gard’s family faced last year when the courts sided against that family’s wishes and ordered the baby’s life support be removed. His family wanted to bring him to the United States for treatment and had raised the money for it. The British government refused to allow the family to seek treatment for their son, and he ultimately died.
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Source: BBC
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