In an open letter, 37 Eurodeputies support Charlie Gard and his parents and demand the respect of the right to live (cf Charlie Gard must be given right to life, human dignity)
After decision of the British Courts and of the European Court of Human Rights, the support provided by parenteral respiratory, nutrition and hydration assistance to Charlie Gard, the 10-months-old baby suffering from mitochondrial encephalopathy, can be suspended. This will lead to the certain death of the child. 37 European deputies[1] have signed an open letter to express their “concern about the scandalous outcome of Charlie’s case, which violates the most fundamental European values, in particular the right to live, the right to human dignity and to personal integrity”. In this case they denounce “the approval of the successive courts to interrupt his supportive care, including nutrition and hydration”, ending with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), last recourse for Charlie Gard’s parents.
The European signatory deputies condemn a shameful behaviour which violates “the values of our civilised society” when a country “does not act in the best interest of its people”. They have committed themselves to oppose such practices with a firm “no”.
On its part, the European federation One of Us chose to act within the British and European authorities using the hashtag #IamCharlieGard. It declared: “Every human being has the right to fight for his life. Charlie and his parents are being deprived of their liberty to receive the treatment they deem appropriate. The State has no right to eliminate a child’s life or to exclude the parents’ will to fight for the life of their child. The case of baby Charlie also establishes a dangerous precedent against the defence of life and against the freedom of people with a disease. We cannot “eliminate” sick people and impede their will to fight for their life without giving them any hope.
[1] The signatory deputies: Miroslav Mikolášik MEP, Luigi Morgano MEP, Laurentiu Rebega MEP, Laima Andrikiene MEP, Elisabetta Gardini MEP, Ivan Štefanec MEP, Lara Comi MEP, Marijana Petir MEP, Lorenzo Fontana MEP, Nicola Caputo MEP, Tunne Kelam MEP, Marek Jurek MEP, Beatrix von Storch MEP, Franc Bogovič MEP, Patricija Šulin MEP, Pavel Svoboda MEP, György Hölvenyi MEP, Michal Boni MEP, Jan Olbrycht MEP, Zbigniew Kuzmiuk MEP, Jadwiga Wiśniewska MEP, Thomas Mann MEP, Annie Schreijer-Pierik MEP, Daniela Aiuto MEP, Alojz Peterle MEP, Branislav Škripek MEP, Enrico Gasbarra MEP, Anna Záborská MEP, Arne Gericke MEP, Steven Woolfe MEP, Mylene Troszczynski MEP, Lars Adaktusson MEP, Remo Sernagiotto MEP, József Nagy MEP, Pál Csáky MEP Marek Plura MEP, Robert Jaroslaw Iwaszkiewicz MEP.