Date: July 25, 2017
Host: Jim Schneider
Listen: MP3 | Order
As the title of this Crosstalk communicates, Charlie Gard’s parents have ended their 5 month legal battle with London’s Great Ormond Street Hospital and the European court system to save their son.
Chris Gard and Connie Yates believe it’s too late for any experimental treatment to help 11 month old Charlie recover from his mitochondrial condition. That’s in spite of the fact that they managed to raise over 1.5 million dollars to have Charlie transferred to the U.S. for treatment. Instead, British and European courts ruled that the hospital can block the wishes of his parents and pull life support.
Had Charlie been given the treatment sooner, there was the potential for him to be a normal, healthy boy according to Connie. Chris and Connie insisted, based upon consultation with the doctor, that he had normal brain function in January and could have largely recovered, but they said the hospital wasted precious months fighting them in court while his muscles deteriorated to such an extent that treatment was no longer possible.
Ethical, moral, legal, monetary and biblical considerations all collide in a case like this. Find out more, including how Crosstalk callers responded, when you review this vital broadcast.
