A one-month-old baby is being evacuated from the U.K. to the Vatican’s Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome for treatment of a congenital heart condition. The British National Health Service (NHS) told the baby’s parents that specialized treatment for the condition was not available in the U.K. The child’s father is reportedly an Italian citizen working in the U.K. and so turned to his home country for assistance. Italian family lawyer and former senator Simone Pillon managed to secure the child’s transfer to Pope Francis’s hospital last week before the case was referred to British courts.
Parents recognize the inherent dignity and worth of their children and will move heaven and earth to protect that dignity and worth.
Pillon had been involved in the case of Indi Gregory last year. Indi was diagnosed with a serious mitochondrial condition which British clinicians said was incurable. Pillon tried to have her transferred to Italy for treatment but British courts blocked his efforts, even after Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni declared Indi an Italian citizen. Instead, the courts decided it would be in the eight-month-old girl’s “best interest” to turn off her life support.
“The NHS and the courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi’s dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged,” said Indi’s father Dean Gregory. “They did succeed in taking Indi’s body and dignity, but they can never take her soul. They tried to get rid of Indi without anybody knowing, but we made sure she would be remembered forever. I knew she was special from the day she was born.” (READ MORE from S.A. McCArthy: Speak Boldly, Not Softly: Pope Francis and the Absence of Moral Clarity)
Previously, British courts have been responsible for the deaths of other children diagnosed with difficult or “incurable” diseases or conditions. In 2017, infant Charlie Gard was diagnosed with mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (MDDS) after being hospitalized in Great Ormond Street Hospital, an NHS children’s hospital. The hospital and Charlie’s parents agreed to send Charlie to New York-based neurologist Michio Hirano, who was working on an experimental treatment for MDDS.
After Charlie suffered a seizure, still in London, the hospital determined that experimental treatment would be futile. Charlie’s parents disagreed, so the NHS asked the British High Court to intervene. Charlie’s parents appealed the Court’s decision to keep Charlie in London but the British Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, and the European Court of Human Rights, all denied their appeals. Pope Francis and then-President Donald Trump both offered to assist in Charlie’s transfer, treatment, and care. Hirano visited Great Ormond Street Hospital and, after examining Charlie’s condition, lamented that it was now too late for treatment to be beneficial.
Charlie was transferred to hospice in July 2017 and his life support was turned off. He died at the age of 11 months and 24 days.
In 2016, Alfie Evans was hospitalized at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, another NHS institution, with an undiagnosed neurodegenerative disorder, later identified as GABA-transaminase deficiency. Alfie’s parents sought to have him transferred to the Bambino Gesù hospital late in 2017, with the cooperation of Italian authorities and hospital staff. Within just a few months, the NHS had applied for a court order to turn off Alfie’s life support.
Pope Francis himself, who had met with Alfie’s father, criticized the decision, as did Vatican Secretariat of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who called the NHS’s refusal to transfer Alfie to Rome “incomprehensible.” Not yet Prime Minister, Meloni still managed to secure Italian citizenship for Alfie, expressing hope for his “immediate transfer to Italy.”
In February 2018, the British High Court sided with the NHS and Alder Hey Hospital, ordering the removal of Alfie’s life support. The Court of Appeal agreed and the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights rejected further appeals from Alfie’s parents. In April 2018, Alfie’s life support was turned off. He died aged 1 year and 11 months old.
Four years later, in 2022, 12-year-old Archie Battersbee was hospitalized after having suffered cardiac arrest and an extended period of unconsciousness. The NHS requested a court order to perform brainstem testing, believing that Archie’s cardiac arrest and unconsciousness may have rendered him brainstem dead. The NHS also sought a second order, to shut off Archie’s life support if either he were declared brainstem dead or if the first order were rejected. Of course, Archie’s parents opposed these actions, but to no avail. (READ MORE: Lessons From the Life of Evelyn Waugh)
The High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court all sided with the NHS over Archie’s parents. In August 2022, Archie’s life support was turned off and he died.
With assisted suicide legislation being advanced across the world, even in the U.S., it is worthwhile to examine the passion and ferocity with which parents have fought for their children in these cases. Parents recognize the inherent dignity and worth of their children and will move heaven and earth to protect that dignity and worth. While the practice of medicine can be wholesome, healing, and even lifesaving, the medical industry has prioritized profits and convenience over all else, even over the lives of children.
