Music artist Cher has spoken out in support of Charlie Gard, a 10 month old baby on life support in the U.K. Little Charlie suffers from an extremely rare inherited disease called infantile onset encephalomyopathic mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome (also known as MDDS). There are only 16 known cases in the entire world. The diseases renders Charlie incapable of breathing on his own and he also suffers from brain damage and seizures.
John Stonestreet, writing for Breakpoint.org states:
Charlie’s parents, Connie Yates and Chris Gard, have raised a million and a half dollars in private donations to take him to America for an experimental treatment. They appear under no illusion that the treatment will work, but they do want to exhaust every possibility.
But doctors at Britain’s Great Ormond Street Hospital have decided that Charlie’s condition is hopeless, and that he should be left to die. Britain’s High Court agreed, and the European Court of Human rights refused to intervene after Charlie’s parents appealed. The doctors now have the legal go-ahead to take Charlie off life support.
The hospital had intended to turn off life support for little Charlie last month on June 30th, but delayed pulling the life support after his parents vehemently protested the action.
“We are utterly heartbroken,” Charlie’s parents said in a June 29 Facebook post the day before Charlie was to die, “spending our last precious hours with our baby boy. We’re not allowed to choose if our son lives and we’re not allowed to choose when or where Charlie dies. We and most importantly Charlie have been massively let down throughout this whole process. Charlie will die tomorrow knowing that he was loved by thousands… thank you to everyone for all your support.”
Any day now, Charlie Gard could be legally killed by the hospital. Judges have said that it’s in the best interest of the child for him to die sooner rather than later.
Three days ago, Trump tweeted that the United States would be delighted to assist in caring for little Charlie.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/881875263700783104
That same day, Cher also tweeted her support for Charlie Gard, stating vehemently that no institution has the right to pull the plug on a precious baby:
INSTITUTIONS HAVE NO RIGHT 2FLIP SWITCH ON BELOVED ??.IF??CAN SAVE PRECIOUS CHARLIE GARD?…SEND HIM 2 US‼️
WE LIFT OUR?BESIDE THE?‘N DOOR??— Cher (@cher) July 3, 2017
She also said that everyone in the United States is praying for a miracle for Charlie and his parents:
When Drs Say"Everything That can be done,Has been done",we still ??4 a Miracle.Charlie's story is ?.
All of??sends love to him &His Family— Cher (@cher) July 5, 2017
Still, the British Prime Minister Theresa May is refusing to intervene to save Charlie Gard’s life. A Vatican hospital even stated that it would take over care for Charlie if the courts would allow him to go.
Today, a number of national pro life groups came together in DC to hold a joint press conference on Charlie’s behalf. The March for Life has also started a “Let Charlie Live” petition.
