Get a grip on your stomachs because the religious right has a new cause celebre.
In Britain, there is a sad situation involving a terminally ill infant,
Charlie Gard. His parents have been fighting to keep him on life support and try treatments even though they have been told that it could further harm him. Officials at the hospital where Gard is being housed, Great Ormond Street Hospital, won a court order to take the child off of life support and do what they can to make him comfortable as possible before the sad inevitable takes place.
Just like the situation with Terri Schiavo, it's case in which my heart goes to both sides of the argument.
But nothing but my contempt goes out to folks exploiting this tragedy for their own purposes. And almost at the top of the list is the Family Research Council, who have actually set up a
webpage:
In a case that's caught the world's attention, Chris and Connie have fought the hospital all the way to the European Court of Human Rights, which ruled last week that the hospital is within its rights to "withdraw life-saving treatment" because "it was likely that Charlie would suffer significant harm if his present suffering was prolonged without any realistic prospect of improvement, and the experimental therapy would be of no effective benefit." Like most parents, Chris and Connie are beside themselves -- especially since more than $1.68 million has been raised to bring Charlie to the U.S. for an experimental new treatment. All they're asking for is the right to decide what's best for their own child.
Speaking for pro-lifers, FRC's Arina Grossu called on "the British government, the courts, and the hospital to release Charlie. You are holding him hostage. This is a case about parental rights coming into conflict with socialized medicine. Who should decide what's in the best interest of Charlie? His parents. Not the courts. Not the hospital. Not the government."
Hearing their desperate plea for help, both Pope Francis and President Trump have offered to intervene. In a statement on the crisis, the Pope said the parents' rights to treat their son "until the end" should be respected. "To defend human life, above all when it is wounded by illness, is a duty of love that God entrusts to all." The White House also stepped in the gap, contacting the family to see what can be done. As Donald Trump tweeted, "If we can help little #CharlieGard, as per our friends in the U.K. and the Pope, we would be delighted to do so." Even 37 members of the European Parliament have demanded the hospital step back. This decision, they write, "infringes [on] Europe's most fundamental values, particularly the right to life, the right to human dignity, and personal integrity."
It's odd that FRC is interjecting itself in the Charlie Gard situation while saying almost nothing about the possible appeal of Obamacare, which would eliminate healthcare in this country for millions, as well as
negatively affect women's health in immeasurable ways. Ironically, when FRC
does talk about the Senate bill to repeal of Obamacare, its hope is that Planned Parenthood's government funding gets completely eliminated because of the
continuously refuted belief that Planned Parenthood is a so-called abortion factory. In truth, the elimination of funding to Planned Parenthood would be even
more detrimental to the women's health..
It's very hypocritical to talk about preserving the sanctity of life in Britain when you are rooting for policies which would wreck the sanctity of life in your own country.
But believe it or not, the most disgusting exploitation of the Charlie Gard tragedy comes from former NOM president and now head of the International Organization for the Family, Brian Brown.
He decided to use the tragedy to
fundraise while railing against the LGBTQ community:
The Charlie Gard case is unbelievably tragic, but it's reflective of what happens when the natural family is pushed aside and government social engineers are given control. When that happens, children are trapped in unsafe, failing schools with no parental choices; kids as young as pre-school are indoctrinated into a radical LGBT agenda with no parental opt out; young girls can obtain an abortion with no notification to a parent; the understanding of marriage as a life-long, exclusive, conjugal union of man and woman is abandoned and children are told they do not need the love of a mother and father; kids are fed lies that they can change their gender according to their desires, and that it's perfectly normal to have three or more moms and no dad; and the elderly ill are subtly encouraged to kill themselves rather than be a "burden" on society.
Seriously, what the hell? Words escape me.
Hat tip to Right Wing Watch
