The horrors of universal healthcare are once again on full display in the United Kingdom as 21-month-old Alfie Evans fights for his life after the British Supreme Court ruled that Alfie be removed from life-support despite the wishes of his parents.
After the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital claimed that it would not be in Alfie’s “best interest” to maintain treatment, Alfie’s parents took their case all the way to the British Supreme Court. It was a legal battle that they eventually lost.
According to the justices in the British Supreme Court, “Alfie looks like a normal baby, but the unanimous opinion of the doctors who have examined him and the scans of his brain is that almost all of his brain has been destroyed. No one knows why. But that it has happened and is continuing to happen cannot be denied. It means that Alfie cannot breathe, or eat, or drink without sophisticated medical treatment. It also means that there is no hope of his ever getting better.”
Alfie’s parents, however, do not share that assessment. They wished to continue fighting for Alfie’s life in the hope that he would recover. Even if a full recovery was not a possibility, Alfie’s parents would rather have their child alive and severely disabled than left to die. Those in charge of the healthcare system in the UK consider this to be a waste of resources.
According to a report published by Live Action, “Part of the issue, judging by the most recent Supreme Court ruling, appears to be that if Alfie survives, he will be severely disabled, and treating him is therefore not worth the effort or expense to keep him alive.”
In the fight for their son’s life, Alfie’s parents have garnered plenty of powerful supporters. Pope Francis tweeted his support for Alfie, and hospitals in other countries have offered to take the child in and treat him. Alfie was even granted Italian citizenship by the Italian government in the hopes that it would allow his parents to bring him to Italy for treatment. However, the British government is not allowing Alfie’s parents to take him elsewhere in spite of these efforts.
At the time of this writing, Alfie Evans is still clinging to life. In a Facebook post published on Monday morning, Alfie’s desperate father, Tom Evans, said, “He’s been sustaining his own life since 17 minutes past nine. We just need him oxygenated and they are denying us to do that. So, if anyone has any ideas or if anyone can help, feel free.”
The fact that Alfie’s own parents have such little control over their son’s life – so much so that they aren’t even allowed to take him to another country for treatment in spite of all the countries offering to take him in – should be horrifying to anyone considering the implications of government-run healthcare. Having the power to decide whether a patient should live or die is far too much power for the courts to wield, especially when they wield it so irresponsibly.
When universal healthcare is implemented, healthcare resources are spread thin, leaving the courts to decide how those resources are best spent. If they decide that continuing to fight for the life of a patient is a waste of resources – such as they have decided in the case of Alfie Evans and others – there are few courses of action that the patient or the parents of the patient are left able to take.
The issues with such a system are obvious and severe. Not only does it remove a patient or the parent’s of a patient’s power to control their own healthcare, it also puts a dollar value on human life, leaving the courts to treat decisions regarding the lives of patients with the same, cold scrutiny of a financial decision.
American voters should look at stories such as this with both sadness and serious concern. Universal healthcare in America is certainly not outside the realm of possibility given its popularity among far-left politicians such as Bernie Sanders.
Along with the extreme costs and the shackles that universal healthcare places on the healthcare industry, Americans must also strongly consider the reality that, in a few short years, it could be American children who are left to die after the court rules that their lives are not worth fighting for.
~ Christian Patriot Daily
