This has not been a good week in the realm of health care.
Feckless, cowardly, Republicans failed to repeal ObamaCare here in the United States while, over in the UK, we're being offered a terrifying glimpse of our future. As if it wasn't bad enough that Britain's single-payer system condemned little Charlie Gard to death, they've now gone a step further.
Yesterday, we learned that a UK judge has denied Charlie Gard’s parents' request to let their baby die at home.
A British judge ruled Thursday that terminally ill baby Charlie Gard should be transferred to a hospice where he will "inevitably" die within a short time.
The ruling marks the end of a months-long legal battle brought by his parents centered on the infant's right to life. The 11-month-old's life-support machines will be switched off shortly after he is moved to the hospice. Charlie can't breathe without a ventilator.
Judge Nicholas Francis did not say when the transfer would happen and placed a media blackout on identifying the hospice or any of the medical staff treating Charlie.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates, Charlie's parents, were seeking permission to let him die at home, but they gave up on that after objections from the judge who worried about the practical implications for a patient with complex care needs.
In other words: "We're killing your baby our way. No, you can't have your child, and no, we're not letting anyone know when he'll be moved, and we have no intention of telling the press where we're going to finish this."
Someone should let the Brit government know that V for Vendetta and 1984 weren't intended to serve as instruction manuals. …Because this? This is downright Orwellian.
Then again, it was MSNBC that argued that your children aren't your own. To the statist left, they're the property of the collective. So, if you're a Democrat who views government as your religion, I guess you'd probably argue that Charlie is in God's hands.
...Y'know, because you're sick like that.
Melissa Harris Perry - Children Belong to the Collective Not Parents or Families
