Key points in this article:

• A British court decided to end the life of a boy with neurodegeneration.
• Newt Gingrich blames the incident on the British secular state where “God is rejected”
• We must spread the religious understanding that the soul is always healthy despite physical disabilities

 
Alfie Evans’ 23-month-long life ended in a British hospital. He had a terminal illness known as neurodegeneration, and the Liverpool High Court ordered the removal of his life support against his parents’ wishes. Alfie survived for 5 days after his life support was removed.

Alfie had been in a semi-vegetative state for over a year, and the Alder Hey Children’s Hospital went to court saying that further treatment was “futile”. His parents disagreed, and thus the court case began.

Parents’ Wishes Denied

More than 800,000 people saw Alfie’s story on Facebook, and protests began outside the hospital. The Italian government gave Alfie citizenship and the Bambino Gesu Hospital, which has connections with the Vatican, offered to continue treatments.

Appeals to the British High Court and later the European Court of Human Rights were in vain. The Court ordered the termination of Alfie’s life support and prohibited the parents from finding any alternative treatments overseas.

Doctors removed Alfie’s life support in April, 2018 against the parents’ wishes. And despite being told that he would die within minutes, Alfie continued to breathe unaided for 5 days. His father Tom says “it’s not a miracle; it’s a misdiagnosis”.

“Our baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30 a.m. We are heartbroken,” his mother Kate posted on Facebook after Alfie’s passing. Tom also posted “My gladiator lay down his shield”.

The same thing happened in 2017 in Britain. Charlie Gard had mitochondrial depletion syndrome whose treatment was force-stopped by the British Court. He was 11-months old. An American hospital would have continued treatments, and it was a possibility since Charlie’s parents had raised more than GBP1.3 million.

A Tragedy That Happens When “God Is Rejected” Says Gingrich

The British government ordered what is equivalent of a death sentence to these innocent young lives. Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and Republican, Newt Gingrich, said in his article on Fox News

These tragic government-imposed death sentences for innocent infants should frighten all of us about increasing secularism in society and the steady shift towards a totalitarian willingness to control our lives – down to and including ending them – on the government’s terms.

In the American Revolution, in our fight against the British crown, we asserted that rights come from God – not from government . . . However, our secular, liberal culture increasingly dismisses the concept of God and asserts that our rights come from a rational contract enforced by government.

The British government settles on these inhumane decisions because religious values and the concept of God are missing in the public sphere.

In March of this year, British cosmologist Stephen Hawking died after his long battle against ALS. A major moment in his life was when he contracted pneumonia while writing his book “A Brief History of Time” (which went on to sell over 10 million copies), and doctors offered to turn off his life support.

Tragedies Will Continue Until Religious Values Are Spread

It is mortifying to think that a free democratic country like Britain should force the stopping of medical treatments on patients with terminal illnesses. As Gingrich points out, it is because atheism is spreading and we are moving towards a God-less totalitarian form of government.

Religions teach that the soul is always healthy despite any physical ailments. Souls are honorable beings made by the Creator, and they are born on Earth to go through soul training.

Government bodies like the Court must not be allowed to deprive human souls the chance to undergo training.

Tragedies like Alfie and Charlie’s cases will continue until religious values spread throughout the world. It is of utmost importance that we increase the number of people who have faith in God.