What Socialized Medicine Really Looks Like: London Judge Orders Baby Taken Off Life Support Against Parent’s Wishes

People who want the US to adopt a fully state-run medical system need to understand a very important fact about those kinds of systems. Turning to the government for healthcare is a devil’s bargain. Even when it’s cheaper than privatized healthcare, it’s still incredibly inefficient, and leaves patients waiting weeks or months for critical procedures. But more importantly, it takes healthcare completely out of the hands of patients, and leaves them at the mercy of government officials.

That’s certainly the case in Britain, where two parents have no choice but to let their baby be taken off life support. Chris Gard and Connie Yates, whose 8 month old baby has an incredibly rare mitochondrial birth defect, were heart-broken after a London judge determined that their baby should be taken off all treatments, and allowed to “die with dignity” with the aid of palliative care. “I only hope in time they will come to accept it is in Charlie’s best interests to let him slip away peacefully, and not put him through more pain and suffering.”

Baby’s with this condition rarely live more than a few months without life support. The judge’s decision was based in part on the advice of the baby’s doctors.

The parents however, want to give their baby one more chance. They raised $1.5 million on GoFundMe to take their baby to America for an experimental medical treatment. Experts all agree though, that the baby’s brain damage is irreversible, and there’s no proof that this treatment will work. And more importantly, they believe that the treatment would most likely only prolong the baby’s suffering. The parent’s have three weeks to appeal the judge’s decision before Charlie is taken off life support.

One could argue the merits of that judge’s decision. The situation is a complicated moral conundrum. But regardless of whether or not this judge’s decision was right or wrong in this particular instance, we should really ask ourselves if that kind of decision should ever be taken away from a parent, and handed over to a government official.

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Contributed by Daniel Lang of The Daily Sheeple.

Daniel Lang is a researcher and staff writer for The Daily Sheeple – Wake The Flock Up!