For the second time in less than a year, a child has been sentenced to death by the British courts, which determined that seeking treatment elsewhere would not be in the child's best interests.
A court in London dismissed today the plea of Tom and Kate Evans to have their son transferred to another hospital. Alfie Evans who is 23-month old has been on life-support for more than a year and he is currently detained at the Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool, with police officers guarding the ward, in case the family makes an attempt to take him out.
Just like in the case of Charlie Gard last year, doctors say there is no more hope for Alfie and he must be taken off life-support. The date has already been set and announced to the parents.
In a last ditch attempt before a Court of Appeal in London, lawyers for the family have argued that the parents as legal guardians have the right to take the boy elsewhere for further investigation. However, Lord Justice Moylan decided that:
“It is wrong to say that the parent's own views trump Alfie’s best interests”
Over the past few days, there's been a fierce debate over the issue. An adult with whatever disease is allowed to discharge himself and seek treatment somewhere else, even if the doctors consider there is zero chance of a cure. For a child, it is the parents who should be able to make the decision, just as it was the parents who took the baby to the hospital in the first place. But, no, the parents' 'views' do not count, the court decided.
The issue of unlawful detention of the child was also discussed today in court.
Lord Justice Moylan summarises that the law says they do not consider it to be a ‘deprivation of liberties’ if the subject’s health restricts from them from moving.
I'm sorry to say that, but this is bullshit. The child cannot, indeed, be expected to walk out of hospital, but there is a chartered helicopter waiting to move the child to the Vatican's pediatric hospital. So he is only 'restricted from moving' by the police and the threats against the father, who has been told he'll go to jail if he tries to take his own child to another medical facility – not some quack healers in the jungle, but the doctors at the Bambino Gesu (Baby Jesus) hospital.
The medical team at the hospital in Liverpool maintains that the baby will come to 'significant harm' is he is taken away, whereas if he stays there he can look forward to a swift death.
For the moment, the decision to withdraw life-support has been put on hold, pending another appeal at the Supreme Court. Alfie got a stay of execution!
The case is extremely worrying because it introduces the notion that whatever authorities decide is in a child's best interests it trumps the parents' views. This can apply to practically everything. If the state decides children must receive a vaccine a day, the parents cannot say otherwise. It could be used to enroll children in public education if it is considered to be in the child's best interests. It is for the state to decide and the parents to obey. Tom and Kate Evans have full parental rights and that doesn't mean anything. In the not so distant future, this, just as the Charlie Gard case, will function as legal precedents for the limitation of parental rights. We're dealing with a pattern of abuse!
There's another troubling aspect in the sad story of Alfie Evans. His condition has not been properly identified by the doctors. (In other words, they don't know exactly what's wrong, but they are sure there is no hope!)
A tentative diagnostic that has been mentioned is mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome, the same thing Charlie Gard had. According to Wikipedia, there have been only 16 documented cases in infants in the whole world. As it is so rare, it seems a bit strange that there are two cases in the UK alone – and they occurred almost at the same time. Alfie Evans was born in May 2016, Charlie Gard was born in August 2016.
The reason I wanted to stress this fact is that there are studies that say there might be a link between vaccines and mitochondrial DNA depletion. Let me just add that in both cases the first symptoms were seizures, a common side-effect of vaccines. The UK papers make no mention of what vaccines these kids might have had, so it is impossible to say whether or not there's a link.
It is now evening in Liverpool. Crowds outside the hospital are singing 'We love you Alfie'. Tom Evans has just made a tearful press statement, vowing to keep fighting for his son. The kid's fate is now in the hands of judges at the Supreme Court, but it is uncertain whether they'll want to hear yet another appeal.
Maybe the child really is beyond hope, but he deserves a chance. That's in his best interest!
Please read the stories under #familyprotection as they contain information you might need someday.
50% of SBD made from this post will go to 
