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Wednesday, April 25, 2018

SALLY MORRIS:  THE POWER OF THE STATE - ALFIE EVANS’ FIGHT FOR LIFE

Again we are witnessing the unfolding of another human tragedy in the UK.  As I write this, the parents of Alfie Evans are in a life-and-death struggle with Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, trying desperately to give their son a chance to live.


His has been a cause-celebre for right-to-life advocates around the world, who have watched these loving young parents persevere through an endless and increasingly agonizing series of appeals to English courts, each of which was adverse to prolonging Alfie’s life.  Tom and Kate Evans then went to the European Court on Human Rights, which denied them a hearing, maintaining that they saw no “human rights violation”. Still the young couple has continued to fight for their child, through endless appeals to hold off on disconnecting life support, as people around the world have prayed for the little boy.


His condition is “undiagnosed”, but began with seizures and has progressed unabated.  The doctors at Alder Hey Hospital have decided in their wisdom that despite not really knowing what is wrong that there is no hope for recovery and thus nothing more should be attempted.  His parents, on the other hand, have detected signs of some responsiveness, including smiling.


Finally all efforts to prevail in court having come to naught, Evans visited the Pope, who has offered to help.  Alfie has been made a citizen of Italy, which ought to accord him more rights than any English child enjoys, apparently.  Others around the world have offered help - not just well-meaning people whose hearts are in the right place, but medical professionals of the highest levels, in the US and other countries.  There are many options available to little Alfie . . . except that he is apparently being held hostage in the Liverpool hospital against his parents’ wishes.


Now this could be another “right-to-life” article, but this time let’s look at what is happening, again, in the UK, a great example of socialized medicine.  We see a system in England which, like a spider, lures parents to bring sick children in for “care”. Once in the web they are all trapped and the hospital takes over their lives, imprisoning the child and his parents.  The child and his parents are, in fact, under police guard. The goal seems to be to kill the child, but only after putting the parents through the worst kind of torture.


At a time when the youngster’s parents would wish to spend every waking moment with him they have been jerked around by the system, required to be flying across the continent to a court in Strasbourg, then to Rome, trying every means available to save him.  Every minute away seems a lifetime - and perhaps it is. This is inhumane. While we are considering the dignity and quality of life for this little boy we should also consider the dignity, quality of life and peace of mind and conscience of these two young parents.


The motive of record is to give the baby “dignity” (as if suffocating for lack of oxygen or starving him by withdrawing nutrition and/or hydration is “dignified”) and to “relieve” his “suffering” (see above for that).  This is illogical in juxtaposition with the hospital’s position that he is not capable of feeling anything. How any human being could think that starving or asphyxiating a little child afford either relief or dignity is beyond most of us.  But that is England of the 21st Century under the National Health System.


We can think of no purpose served by this approach to a child’s medical problems.  This is not about money and it shouldn’t be for a lot of reasons besides humanitarian ones.  This child might offer an opportunity to achieve progress in predicting, diagnosing and treating the kinds of problems he is experiencing.  If Alder Hey is incapable of successful treatment their duty is to at least facilitate another option for treatment. Many are available if only this child were not locked in and his parents helpless to free him.  

From a purely detached, scientific point of view Alfie Evans could be a medical breakthrough whose treatment could provide answers for others in the future.  From a human standpoint, how on earth could the suffering and violation of these parents help anyone, including a child from whom the people who wish to withdraw life support claim can experience no pain, hence no suffering?  It is sadistic in the extreme to hold this child against his parents’ will and deny them the opportunity for another opinion and other treatment options.


This is what we are asking for when we say we want our government to take care of us through any kind of “national health insurance” - Obamacare or whatever we call it next.   It will not only result in clearly inferior medical options for seriously ill people, but it will also stifle any further development of treatment options and bring an end to medical progress.


There is one lesson which Alfie’s parents should have learned from the parents of little Charlie Gard:  if your child is appearing to be unwell, for God’s sake take him out of England, not to an English hospital!  Had they taken their cue from Charlie Gard’s misfortune they would have had their child in Italy long before they hooked him up to a ventilator in Liverpool.


As it stands most recently, Alfie’s life support was withdrawn against all his supporters’ and his parents’ fervent wishes.  He was supposed to just quietly fade away and die. He didn’t. He began to breathe on his own. He is clearly fighting for life.  His parents are fighting for life. His supporters worldwide are fighting for his life. The Pope is fighting for his life and many medical specialists are ready and willing to go to work to save his life and . . . who knows?  Maybe even cure his illness. It would not be the first time a “hopeless case” returned from the brink of death to make an astonishing recovery. So far, the report is that the hospital is denying nutrition - they are starving him - since he is now breathing on his own.  They are intent upon bringing about his death by whatever means are necessary. This is inhumane. The European Court needs to revise its conclusion that no human rights violations are occurring, for if you refused to feed any other two-year-old child his rights would most certainly be violated and he would be considered to be the victim of horrendous child abuse.  


This is not and has never been about a child’s “best interests”, “rights” or “dignity”.  It has always been about power: the power of the state to dictate and subjugate and undermine the family unit.  This is always a prime goal of statists. This is what is at issue here. Any outside opinion or successful treatment would threaten the reputation and appearance of “expertise” on the part of these medical “professionals” and thereby undermine their authority.  Any time courts rule that the hospital has absolute control - as in this case - it telegraphs that the people are helpless, a reminder of exactly who is in control These are reasons enough to prevent any other care for the child. It is our duty and responsibility to recognize this and to guard against it here.


Alfie will be two years old on May 9.  Let us all hope and pray he sees his 2nd birthday and more to come.  Keep Alfie in your prayers but also keep in clear view the horrors of state health care.  When you put the state in charge of your life you also give the state tacit power over the day of your death.  As we can say about many other aspects of an all-powerful state, a government big enough to give you everything is big enough to take everything from you - including, apparently, your very life.


 

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