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British Hospital to Gard's Parents: You Alone Cannot Decide Your Child's Fate

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The London hospital treating Charlie Gard, a terminally ill baby whose case has drawn international attention, says Gard's parents do not have the right be the sole decision-makers for their son.

In a submission to the High Court on Thursday, hospital attorney Katie Gollop said the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) holds a very different view than the parents of how treatment decisions should be made.

"A world where only parents speak and decide for children and where children have no separate identity or rights and no court to hear and protect them is far from the world in which GOSH treats its child patients," wrote Gollop.

Gard's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, have faced opposition for weeks from the hospital and British courts in their attempt to take their son to the U.S. for experimental treatment.  Hospital specialists have said they don't think the treatment will help and may cause pain.

Eleven-month old Gard suffers from a rare genetic condition and has been treated at GOSH, Britian's most famous children's hospital.

Gard's parents had another breakdown in court on Thursday, storming out mid-hearing after disagreeing with remarks by Judge Nicholas Francis. Gard's mother, Connie Yates, accused the judge of misquoting her earlier statements about her son's quality of life. Her husband punched a table while his wife said "we said he's not in suffering and in pain. If he was we wouldn't be up here fighting for that."

The couple walked out but returned after a short break.

In the hearing, an American doctor told Judge Francis that new clinical data has emerged that wasn't available when Francis ruled earlier against the parents. The doctor, whose identity is protected under a court order, told Francis that he thought the treatment was "worth trying" and estimated a 10 percent chance of meaningful success.

Francis asked the doctor to go see the Gard's son and meet other experts, saying "no hearing can resume" until that happens.

At a hearing on Monday, Francis insisted that there must be "new and powerful" evidence if his earlier rulings were to be reversed. So far, Francis has ruled that the parents may not travel abroad for further treatment for their son. He has also authorized GOSH to take the baby off life support.
 

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About The Author

Heather
Sells

Heather Sells covers wide-ranging stories for CBN News that include religious liberty, ministry trends, immigration, and education. She’s known for telling personal stories that capture the issues of the day, from the border sheriff who rescues migrants in the desert to the parents struggling with a child that identifies as transgender. In the last year, she has reported on immigration at the Texas border, from Washington, D.C., in advance of the Dobbs abortion case, at crisis pregnancy centers in Massachusetts, and on sexual abuse reform at the annual Southern Baptist meeting in Anaheim