Shame on UK ‘health’ system for holding Alfie Evans hostage

A toddler is being held hostage at a hospital in the U.K. against the wishes of his parents, who are eager to transport him out of the country — at their own expense — to be cared for by medical professionals who have pledged to do everything they can to help him. Why? Because the U.K. has a socialized medical system, which means the care for patients is in the hands of the state, bureaucrats who are apparently more interested in saving money than saving lives.

This should be a wake up call for proponents of more government intervention in the lives of Americans.  

This story of baby Alfie and his desperate parents is not new, but it is gaining traction on a worldwide level. Pope Francis has tweeted his support for the child and the wishes of his parents to transport him out of the country. Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano tweeted that he hopes that the U.K. will allow Alfie to leave the country since Italy has given the child citizenship in hopes of moving the process along. The president of Poland, Andrzej Duda, tweeted that baby Alfie must be saved and that some “good will is needed on the part of decision makers.” 

Moved by the prayers and immense solidarity shown little Alfie Evans, I renew my appeal that the suffering of his parents may be heard and that their desire to seek new forms of treatment may be granted.

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 23, 2018

The decision makers should be his parents, not the government. The judge in the case said that “All medical experts agreed that further treatment was futile and that it would be against Alfie’s best interests to travel to Italy.” Really? Tell that to Ashya King, whose cancerous brain tumor earned him a similar death sentence in the U.K. His parents fled the U.K. and sought treatment, ultimately in the Czech Republic. Today, he’s cancer free. 

Clearly, medicine is changing rapidly and new treatments are always being attempted. So what gives a judge the right to deny hope to a child that is not his?

If this situation sounds familiar, it is. Last summer, the world’s attention was focused on the plight of little Charlie Gard, whose parents fought the government in the same country for the right to transport their son to a hospital in the United States that would effort additional treatment.

We all tried to save Charlie. I led an effort here in DC to use my own connections and those of other Christian leaders to save Charlie’s life. Even the president made a bid to save him. But in the end, we all failed, because the government refused to let their own citizens leave the country — despite the fact Charlie’s parents had crowdfunded enough money to transport and treat him.

Cruz urges UK officials to grant request from parents to transfer sick toddler to Italyhttps://t.co/XIo5g3D8EW pic.twitter.com/RbBC7IANTc

— The Hill (@thehill) April 25, 2018

The U.K. refused their requests. The Courts refused their requests. And Charlie Gard died the day after he was taken off of life support. He was just short of a year old, a life cut short by socialized medicine and an unrelenting disregard for life.  

I met his parents not long after at the White House. I asked them what we could do now. “Pray for Justice,” they replied. Justice that no other child would go through what their son went through.

And now the U.K. Court of Appeals has denied Alfie’s parents the right to take him to Rome for treatment at a hospital with a medical staff that wants to help him. Instead, they had reportedly allowed little Alfie to starve, until, on Wednesday, the baby’s father stated the baby is finally receiving nourishment again. 

Alfie has already shocked doctors by surviving for more than two days after his life support was turned off and, if given proper medical treatment instead of forced starvation, he could have a chance at life. 

Isn’t even a fleeting chance worth something? Why is Alfie’s life worth less than another child’s life? What if it was a royal baby suffering with an unrecognizable neurological disorder? Would the U.K. courts allow life support to be turned off and force the parents — and the whole country — watch that baby starve to death? I doubt it. 

Alfie deserves every single chance at life he can get, and his parents are fighting relentlessly for him. But their wishes are being overruled in favor of certain death. 

When life is reduced to money and the cost of care, it is no longer healthcare; it is socialism. Americans would do well to remember that and stay vigilant against letting it happen here.

Penny Nance is CEO and president of Concerned Women for America and author of “Feisty and Feminine”.