Dispute Over British Baby’s Fate Draws In Pope and U.S. President
United States was that We are close to the parents in prayer and, if this is their desire, we
are open to receiving their child at our structure for the time it will take for him to live.
If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so.
The Court of Human Rights ruled last week that the British courts had acted appropriately in concluding
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." The case has drawn attention to important differences in legal systems.
A Vatican spokesman, Greg Burke, told Vatican Radio on Sunday
that the pope had been following the parents’ case "with affection and sadness," praying "that their desire to accompany and care for their own child to the end is not ignored." Italy’s top pediatric hospital, which is run by the Vatican, told the Italian news agency ANSA on Monday that it would be willing to take Charlie.
Helen Aguirre Ferré, the director of the White House office of media affairs, said Mr. Trump had decided to speak out after he learned about "this heartbreaking situation." Mr. Trump has not spoken with the family, she said,
and does not want "to pressure them in any way." "The president is just trying to be helpful if at all possible," she added.
Courts in the United States are less inclined to get involved when there are disputes between parents and doctors, said Professor Moreno of the University of Pennsylvania, stressing
that it was usually left to doctors, in consultation with parents, to decide on a child’s treatment.
Now the British infant is at the center of a global debate, drawing in the Vatican
and President Trump, over what medical treatment, if any, he is entitled to receive, and who decides — his family, his doctors or the courts.
