Charlie Gard’s Parents Have Two Days to Convince a Judge to Not Remove Charlie’s Life Support

International   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 11, 2017   |   10:55AM   |   Washington, DC

Now that a judge has granted a new hearing on Thursday in the case of Charlie Gard, his parents have two weeks to convince the judge that they ought to have the right to allow their son to try an experimental therapy.

As LifeNews reported yesterday, the judge in the case set up another hearing on Thursday to determine whether or not Charlie can receive an experimental treatment to help him with his very rare medical condition.

But Judge Nicholas Francis insisted there must be “new and powerful” evidence if his earlier rulings were to be reversed. While there is evidence of treatment helping other children with Charlie’s condition, it’s unclear if it will meet Judge Francis’ definition of “new and powerful.” His earlier rulings barred Charlie from traveling abroad for treatment and authorized London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital to take him off life support.

Multiple hospitals and medical experts say that an experimental treatment could provide Charlie with hope and attorneys today argued in court that his parents ought to be given the right to allow him to have it. But attorneys for the hospital argued that the information about the experimental treatment was already available during previous consideration of the case and that there was no reason to go back on the decision to revoke Charlie’s life support over his parents objection.

Charlie’s mother Connie Yates told Sky News that seven specialists around the world support experimental treatment for her son and that it has “an up to a 10 percent chance of working.”

“I hope they can see there is more of a chance than previously thought and hope they trust us as parents and trust the other doctors,” she said.

Reverend Patrick Mahoney, a pro-life American pastor helping the couple, said he is delighted that a British High Court denied Great Ormond Street’s Hospital’s request to deny a hearing allowing new evidence in the Charlie Gard case.

He added: “If this new evidence is accepted, Charlie will be able to receive experimental treatment in the United States or other countries. Our prayers are with Charlie and his parents and we would hope the court would respect The wishes and rights of his parents to move forward with medical care that will improve the health of their son.”

Americans United for Life President & CEO Catherine Glenn Foster is also in England helping Charlie’s family.

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She told LifeNews: “Great Ormond Street Hospital asked for Mr. Justice Francis to affirm his prior, April ruling, and the Justice denied them. The book is not closed on Charlie Gard, and little Charlie still has a chance. International attention has been focused on this brave couple, Connie and Chris, fighting for the life of their son, and I will remain in London calling for the rights of parents to make decisions for their children’s care, and for hospital officials to open their doors and let Charlie’s parents seek groundbreaking new treatment for their son.”

“I am Charlie. We all are Charlie. He could be my child, or your child, or any one of us,” said Foster. “The life and death struggle facing Charlie’s parents could happen to anyone, which is why we are fighting for their right to determine their son’s welfare.”

Foster continued: “As a mother, I could not stand by as Charlie’s parents so bravely fought to seek life-saving care for their son,” said Foster. “Here we have an institution created to serve the most vulnerable in our society and hired to care for little Charlie, and yet is battling his parents to strip them all of their rights. No matter how diverse and pluralistic we are as a culture, there is one thing that unites us all: the family. We all want a better future for our children, and that’s why families worldwide are responding so strongly to Connie and Chris’s fight to give Charlie a chance.”

Charlie suffers from a rare genetic disorder, mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, which can cause weakened muscles and organ dysfunction, among other symptoms, and though his parents have raised money for additional treatment and hospitals around the world have volunteered their services, hospital officials have refused to allow the infant to be released to his parents.

Charlie’s parents have brought Terri Schiavo’s brother Bobby Schindler to London to help them fight for care for their son. Schindler has arrived in Britain to help them just as they are preparing to meet with executives from the hospital that is denying Charlie treatment that has won a legal battle to remove his life support over their objections.

Schindler spoke with LifeNews exclusively about their invitation. He, pro-life attorney Catherine Glenn Foster, President & CEO of Americans United for Life; and Rev. Patrick Mahoney, Director of the Christian Defense Coalition, arrived in London on Friday morning at the invitation of Charlie’s parents, Connie and Chris.

Schindler told LifeNews: “We are here by invitation from the family to come alongside them as they struggle to save their son, Charlie. The critical issue here is not a political one, but the simple notion that families know what is best for their loved ones.”

“Charlie’s situation is very reminiscent of my family’s battle to save my sister, Terri. Hopefully being here can help his parents, Connie and Charlie, deal with the day-to-day emotional roller coaster, as they fight for their son’s right to live,” Schindler added.

Schindler told LifeNews he is calling for officials in Great Britain to honor the wishes of Charlie’s parents and allow him to travel and receive the medical help he needs. He said he will be working with and alongside the family to facilitate their desire to obtain medical care for Charlie and oversee a campaign to ensure the family is not removed from the critical decisions being made concerning Charlie’s future and well-being.

Meanwhile, a New York City hospital has offered to help Charlie.

Charlie is suffering from a rare disease, and his parents want to take him to the United States for an experimental treatment. His case gained international attention as his parents fought a series of court battles for their son, but ultimately lost. Recently, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against his parents’ appeal to take him to the U.S. A British court also ruled that his life support can be removed against his parents’ wishes.

In a statement, New York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center said it had agreed to admit Gard.

“New-York Presbyterian Hospital and Columbia University Irving Medical Center have agreed to admit and evaluate Charlie, provided that arrangements are made to safely transfer him to our facility, legal hurdles are cleared, and we receive emergency approval from the FDA for an experimental treatment as appropriate,” the hospital said in a statement.

New York Presbyterian also said, as another option, it would ship the experimental drug to London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is currently receiving care, if the FDA approves. The hospital said it would advise medical staff at Great Ormond on administering the treatment to the baby “if they are willing to do so.”

“Alternatively, if approved by the FDA, we will arrange shipment of the experimental drug to Great Ormond Street Hospital and advise their medical staff on administering it if they are willing to do so,” the statement read.

The situation is getting worse for the parents of Charlie Gard, the British boy suffering from a rare disease who a hospital is denying treatment or transfer to another hospital.

Now Charlie’s mother says the London-based hospital is keeping them in the dark and not inviting them to important meetings about Charlie’s care.

The Sun newspaper has more about this and a protest supporters of Charlie and his family waged today outside the home of British prime minister Theresa May, who has refused to allow Charlie to be transferred to another hospital where he could receive experimental treatment.

Connie said: “Doctors have kept us in the dark.

“We can only hope that various meetings they’ve been having to which we have not been invited are positive and that they will let us take Charlie to the US for treatment.”

President Donald Trump will grill British Prime Minister Theresa May in a private meeting today over her refusal to help Charlie Gard. May offered her sympathies to Charlie and his family on Wednesday, she also would not commit to intervening in his case.

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Charlie is suffering from a rare disease, and his parents want to take him to the United States for an experimental treatment. His case gained international attention as his parents fought a series of court battles for their son, but ultimately lost. Last week, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against his parents’ appeal to take him to the U.S. A British court also ruled that his life support can be removed against his parents’ wishes.

While President Trump has offered to support Charlie’s Family in their attempt to bring him to the United States for an experimental treatment to combat the rare disease he faces, Prime Minister May has refused to help in any way.

The two leaders will meet one-on-one on Friday at the G20 summit in Hamburg and the Prime Minister’s team are readying a detailed briefing on the case in anticipation of questions from Mr Trump, the Daily Mail reported.

A Vatican hospital said it was ready and willing to care for British infant Charlie Gard but British officials refused to allow the little boy to leave the country. The Italian news outlet Zenit reported that leaders of the Bambino Jesus pediatric hospital in Rome, Italy said they are willing to care for Charlie if the courts will allow him to be transferred to their hospital. But Britain’s Foreign Minister Boris Johnson refused.

The president of the Bambino Gesu hospital, Mariella Enoc, told reporters she had asked GOSH if Charlie could be transferred but was informed he could not be moved.

A spokesman for the hospital said: “Great Ormond Street Hospital kindly told us that there is a legal problem about Charlie’s transfer to Bambino Gesu’s children’s hospital.

“This is sad news,” said Mariella Enoc, President Bambino Gesu, often referred to as the “Pope’s Hospital.”

Officials with the administration of President Donald Trump have spoken with the family of Charlie Gard and say they are offering to help in any way possible.

But seeing how Gard and his family are in England and both British and European courts have rejected pleas from his parents to take him to the United States for experimental treatment, the ability to help is probably a tall order.

Charlie Gard’s mother is still defiant in the face of a court decision allowing a hospital to revoke life support from her son even though she and Charlie’s father do not want it removed. Charlie’s parents are desperately trying to get him to the United States for an experimental procedure that could save his life as he battles a rare disease.

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Charlie is the little boy who is dealing with a rare disease and whose doctors are preparing to remove his life support over his parents objections.

Charlie’s parents have exhausted their legal options as court after court has denied them the ability to provide proper life-saving care and medical treatment for their son. They have been prevented from taking Charlie from Britain to the United States for an experimental treatment that could save his life. Gard, the 10-month-old baby in the United Kingdom who is afflicted with a rare mitochondrial disease, will have his life support withdrawn after his parents lost their appeal to transport their son to the United States for an experimental treatment.

Charlie’s mother Connie Yates sent out a response on social media following a tweet from president Donald Trump saying that he would help Charlie if possible.

Yates thanked both President Trump as well as Pope Francis who spoke up over the weekend on Charlie’s behalf. Yates added: “If he’s still fighting, we’re still fighting.”

Leading pro-life organizations and disability rights campaigners have been fighting for Charlie speaking out on social media on his behalf. Now President Donald Trump has joined that chorus.

Trump’s support came after Pope Francis weighed in on their side — offering his prayers for Gard, and asking that his parents’ wishes be respected.

“The Holy Father follows with affection and emotion the story of Charlie Gard and expresses his own closeness to his parents,” read a July 2 statement issued by Vatican spokesman Greg Burke.

“He prays for them, wishing that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end will be respected.”

Pope Francis also used his Twitter account to send a clear pro-life message to the world.

When his parents asked to take their son home to die, their request was denied. Gard’s life support machines were to be turned off Friday, but the courts allowed the parents to have more time with their child before his death.

“Baby Charlie,” as he came to be known, cannot breathe on his own, has seizures, and suffered severe brain damage as a result of his disease. In March, doctors told Charlie’s parents that they did not believe that they could do anything further to treat their son, and recommended that they withdraw life support. Despite the grim diagnosis, Charlie’s parents raised over $1 million to move him to the U.S. for treatment, but the European Court of Human Rights ruled against them on Wednesday and will not permit them to treat their son.

The court said that they did not believe that the experimental treatment in the U.S. would benefit Charlie, and that it would cause him “significant harm.”

“The domestic courts had concluded, on the basis of extensive, high-quality expert evidence, that it was most likely Charlie was being exposed to continued pain, suffering and distress and that undergoing experimental treatment with no prospects of success would offer no benefit, and continue to cause him significant harm.”

On Facebook, Charlie’s parents said that they were “heartbroken” and that they were aghast that they were not permitted to choose when or where their son would die. Previously, they have said that they would like their son to pass away at home, not in a hospital. They are not permitted to take him home, and they say that the hospital is “rushing” to turn off the ventilator.

Charlie entered Great Ormond Street Hospital in London in October and was diagnosed as suffering from a form of mitochondrial disease that causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage. Subsequently his parents discovered that 18 people in the United States had been treated with an oral medication of naturally occurring compounds to remedy this rare condition. Reports have not identified the doctor who initially agreed to treat Charlie, but it was noted that his parents were aware that no cure was promised.

The main argument offered by the hospital to countermand parental authority was to protect Charlie’s “best interests.” However, attorneys for Charlie’s parents argued that the hospital was basically holding Charlie hostage, violating several articles under the European Convention on Human Rights, including the rights to life, liberty and family privacy.

Terri Schiavo’s brother Bobby Schindler has weighed in on the situation.

“Charlie Gard’s life is more valuable than British and European bureaucrats realize,” explains Bobby Schindler, President of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.

“The central issue of the Charlie Gard struggle,” continues Bobby Schindler, “is not about rationing, limited resources, or even life support. At issue is whether universal healthcare means that bureaucrats and judges will determine appropriate treatment, or whether parents like Charlie’s with the energy, finances, and physicians to care for their child will be allowed to do so.”

The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network has served more than 2,500 medically vulnerable patients and families. The Network been instrumental in similar parental rights cases, particularly the case of Jahi McMath who is now home with her family, and baby Joseph Maraachli who was ultimately allowed to die peacefully in his sleep from natural causes at home, surrounded by loved ones.

Schindler added: “We don’t need judges posing as anguished moral philosophers, weighing what makes a life worth living. We simply need them to rule on whether mothers and fathers have an inalienable right to care for their own children. Are we better off in a society where government officials are encouraged literally to separate loved ones from each other? Is it better for Charlie Gard to live and die at home with his family, or in a state institution?”