Alfie Evans: MEP launches bid for ‘Alfie’s Law’ giving parents chance to save child
BRITISH MEP Steven Woolfe is launching the ‘Alfie’s Law’ campaign as he looks to change rules to enable parents to make informed decisions about their sick child’s care and treatment.
Steven Woolfe: We have an institutional arrogance
Think tank Parliament Street, which is partnering with the MEP on this, said in a post on Mr Woolfe's Facebook page today that “while we absolutely recognise the skill and dedication of medical professionals in the UK, we stand by the moral rights of parents - and their children - to make their informed decisions about their care and treatment”.
It added a recent flurry of cases, most notably that of seriously ill toddler Alfie Evans, has seen parents drawn through protracted legal battles which have prevented them from taking their children from hospital for medical care in other countries.
Parliament Street is calling on MPs to grant parliamentary time to this matter in the Chamber so that parents aren’t taken through lengthy and delaying legal challenges in the future.
Mr Woolfe highlighted the cases of Charlie Gard, who died in 2017 after a court ruled it was in the best interest of the child to have his ventilator switched off, and Aysha King, who was removed by her parents from hospital against doctors’ advice for treatment at the Proton Therapy Centre in the Czech Republic.
He said: “The cases of Charlie Gard, Aysha King, and now Alfie Evans, show a dangerous trend of public bodies depriving parents and families of the right to make decisions they believe are in the best interests of their children.
“Parent’s rights should neither be ignored nor dismissed as irrelevant by hospitals and courts, who believe they know best and have the power, money and resources to overwhelm families who simply want to save their child.
“We demand a change in the law to restore the rights of parents in such decisions. All parents should be allowed an independent advocate to defend their case with the right legal and medical expertise and financial equality of arms.
“Now is the time to act. We cannot have another baby, another family, have to go through the struggle and torment the Evans family have. It’s time for Alfie’s Law.”
A Parliament Street spokesperson added: “Parents are being side-lined in the care of their children, in what are highly complicated moral decisions.
“We strongly believe it is time for a change in the law to re-empower parents to have a say in the treatment of their children.
“We know that MPs have the power to change this to help children and their parents in future, and call on them to address this.”
The launch of this campaign comes after Alfie’s parents Tom Evans and Kate James yesterday failed in another bid to let them move their seriously ill son to the Bambino Gesu Children’s Hospital in Rome for further treatment.
Doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool stopped providing life support for the youngster on Monday evening after his parents lost two rounds of fights in the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and European Court of Human Rights.
Speaking to reporters outside the hospital this morning, Mr Evans said he would be meeting with doctors today to discuss the possibility of taking his son home.