Why this matters and what you can do.
At this point I'm sure you've at least come across a meme about Charlie Gard. The 11 month old in London that was kidnapped by the hospital and then sentenced to death by the courts (this is currently being contested).
Some of you would not summarize his story quite like that but bear with me. I've been reading quite a bit about this little guy and seen a ton of comments supporting him and his parents and also a lot of comments supporting the hospital and the courts. My corner of the internet is saturated with #IamCharlieGard and #CharliesArmy. So why then do I feel the need to add even more words on this topic? Because Charlie matters. Because his story is important, not ONLY for him and his family but for anyone within earshot. And because every voice matters.
Now, because I personally hate having to scroll all the way through and article to get the main points, I'll go ahead and give them to you up here so you don't have to hunt for them and then I'll elaborate.
Why does Charlie matter?
- Because he is a human and if we consider the smallest or the weakest among us to be disposable we cannot then turn around and claim that "every human has value."
- This is a president setting case. You or your children could be Charlie and/or his parents one day.
- If governments are allowed to step in an decide which sick persons can live or die where is the line? Can they then decide which races or religious groups get to live or die? (keep in mind they are already allowed to wield that power quite often via "wars")
Because Charlie is a human.
This may seem like a no brainer statement but I've noticed a trend: many people seem to consider children and babies as being less then human. Have you ever seen a price sign like this: "$5 per person, $2 per child?" Most likely the person creating that sign was not intending to make a statement about the humanity of "child" yet that is precisely what has happened. Society has been absorbing these subtle messages and no longer values the life of the smallest, most innocent among us. People argue about "when life begins" in an attempt to make the mass murder of millions of our unborn brothers and sisters acceptable so that the adult population is not inconvenienced by their existence. If a child is allowed to be born they'd better hope they are healthy, especially in the UK because a pattern is arising of "letting nature take it's course" on the ones who are not. Don't believe me? Look up Charlie Gard, Alfie Evans, or Harry Thomas. Each one of these precious boys are in a fight for their life. They each currently have severe handicaps and each one is in a hospital that wants to just let them die. Think about it though... if you "let nature take it's course" with any infant, they will die. Infants need our support to live. Always. They can't just try harder and magically be self sufficient. They need us. They rely on us to protect and nurture them. If the hospitals have their way Charlie, Alfie, and Harry will be left to suffocate or starve to death, whichever comes first.
Please remember though, as much as babies need us... we need them too! Obviously we need children in order to continue to inhabit this planet. But they are so much more then just replacements. They remind us how to truly love. They bring wonder and joy back into the lives of those they encounter. Their laughter lights up a room in a way that no other group of humans can. They teach us what innocence is and how to openly convey our feelings and needs. They are fresh and new and can rekindle imagination in the adults that are lucky enough to spend time with them. They can remind us that there is more to life then rushing from meeting to meeting and appointment to appointment by helping us slow down and enjoy a butterfly or a pretty leaf (if we let them).
Your child could be Charlie.
Chris and Connie's (Charlie's parents) parental rights have been stripped away so they have no "legal say" over what happens to their son. The hospital now has custody and can "legally" remove all life sustaining support from this infant even though his parents raised almost $2 million to have him transferred (by air ambulance) to a hospital in the U.S. that has a potentially life saving treatment. This is important. Chris and Connie's rights were stripped not because they were bad or neglectful parents but because they were not content to just let their child die. Because they asked questions and dug into the problem to try to find answers when the doctors they were working with ran out. In other cases where the hospital stripped parental rights they still allowed the children to be transferred (at the wishes of the parents) to another hospital/doctor if one was willing to try to help the child. In Charlie's case the hospital was attempting to make the ultimate call without honoring ANY of the parents wishes, to the point of not even allowing them to take him home to die.
If we do nothing and this is allowed to stand. IF Charlie is allowed to be killed by the hospital with the backing of the government where will it end? If you have an unusually sickly year and the hospital spends more then your "fair share" on keeping you alive and well will they just put you into a sleep you won't wake from? If we allow the hospital to make the ultimate decision about any of our medical care we no longer have the option of refusing a specific treatment or seeking a second opinion. We are at the mercy of the whims and moods of the hospital staff.
This is not just a threat to those in the UK. The U.S. is not the "free country" we have been lead to believe. This same kind of hospital kidnapping has happened. So far (as far as I know) it hasn't ended with a hospital refusing to allow a possible treatment but if we keep allowing them to force things on us they will continue to push and broaden their "power." They've already convinced much of the population that it's ok to kill by thousands as long as those people live near people who might possibly do something and try to hurt us.
Now is the time to let our voice be heard. Make sure those who supposedly represent the people of the U.S know we will not tolerate being bullied by the system or sit idly by while our brothers and sisters in Europe are. Make sure they know that we value life and will fight to protect those who cannot yet speak for themselves.
Where is the line?
If we do nothing and continue to allow governments to step in a take over the decision making for the care of severely ill infants to the point of refusing treatment where will they stop? Do you think they will limit their power to only newly born humans? Or maybe just the humans who can't breath on their own. If they go that far they might as well expand to the elderly. How about anyone who is taking more effort to keep alive then that person is able to contribute? They could just go ahead and eliminate anyone in society that is not paying into the system (this includes off grid, self sustaining people because they are not feeding the government machine). Do you see what can happen? The life crushing tentacles, if left unchecked, will continue to stretch and spread out to all types of people and groups. Don't believe me? Take a look at taxes and how much they keep expanding. Or look at all the red tape involved with trying to use empty land (that you own) for anything other then just being empty. The members of any government do not care about you, they don't even know you. They are only concerned with looking out for their best interests and the interests of those who give them large amounts of money.
So what do we do about it?
- Spread the word about these children. This is actually simpler than you may think. Share your thoughts about these stories on social media. Follow their Facebook pages/groups so you can find out updates from the actual family and then share the updates. It can be as simple as clicking "like" and/or sharing someone else's post. Someone in your circle of influence may have an answer for one of these little guys.
- Sign a petition. There is a petition to the hospitals on behalf of Charlie and Alfie. They're worded differently but essentially the plea is the same: "Let them live." It take less then a minute to sign (unless your internet is slow) and could make a world of difference.
- Donate. Each of the children I mentioned has some sort of fundraising page set up on their behalf. The money raised will go to helping find help and answers for these children. If you can't donate you can share the page. It ALL helps.
- Hold support rallies. These are quite a bit more involved but maybe you prefer to get outside and take physical action. Then go for it!! Make sign, grab some balloons and make sure the people in our community know about these boys and what's happening. It is very important that these are peaceful events as we are seeing in Charlie's case that the attitudes of the supporters could impact a judges perception of the parents.
- Buy items to show your support. Each child has a store of some kind. There are all kinds of things to buy that will help get the word out. There are shirts, wrist bands, bags, keychains, car stickers, coffee mugs, baby bibs, and so on.
- Be creative. You are incredibly clever! I'm sure you can come up with another way to spread the word! Feel free to post your idea in the comments.
Links to more info:
Charlie Gard:
Website, Facebook, Petition, FundraiserAlfie Evans:
Website, Facebook, Petition, Fundraiser, Fundraising SKYDIVE eventHarry Thomas:
Facebook, Store, Fundraiser, Fundraising SKYDIVE eventNow, what do we do about government?
That is an excellent question. Check out Freedom by Adam Kokesh. It a totally free download. You can get the book or an audio version here for free. It only takes 3 hours to listen to the whole thing. I think you will appreciate much of the thoughts and ideas presented therein.
