LONDON (LifeSiteNews) — British-born infant Indi Gregory has been granted another day on life support.
Today a British Court of Appeal judge gave Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, the parents of the 8-month-old girl, permission to appeal a High Court judge’s decision to allow her doctors in Nottingham to remove her life support. She will therefore continue to receive life-sustaining treatment until the outcome of the hearing.
According to Italian pro-life group Pro Vita e Famiglia (“For Life and Family”), a judge will hear arguments tomorrow, November 10, at 12:00 p.m. local time, about the possibility of transferring the jurisdiction of Indi’s case to an Italian judge. (In an attempt to save the child’s life, the Italian government has granted her Italian citizenship.) Meanwhile, Rome’s Bambino Gesù (“Baby Jesus”) children’s hospital has pledged its willingness the treat Indi’s mitochondrial disease.
Indi’s life support was due to be removed at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham at 2 p.m. today, but after an appeal was lodged by the family’s lawyers, the deadline was extended to 4 p.m. by Lady Justice Eleanor King.
Activists believe Indi was given more time thanks to an appeal to the 1996 Hague Convention.
“It was possible to do this because the [1996] Hague Convention] Article 9 procedure was activated,” tweeted Pro Vita. “That is, the competent Italian judge contacted the competent English judge, and the documents were forwarded to the Court of Appeal.”
“In addition, Italy’s Prime Minister’s Office wrote to the British Ministry of Justice as provided for in Article 23, also of the 1996 Hague Convention.”
According to the U.K.’s Christian Concern, the permission to appeal follows Justice Robert Peel’s ruling that Indi’s parents “could not take her home and that life support should be removed at a hospice or at the hospital.”
Today the Italian consul for Manchester made an application to the U.K. High Court calling on Peel to cede jurisdiction of the case to him under Article 9 (2) of the 1996 Hague Convention.
Christian Concern wrote that “such a development has never happened before in an end-of-life case involving a child in the U.K.”
READ: Time running out: Italian consul makes last-minute attempt to save baby Indi Gregory
Indi’s mitochondrial disease is rare, and her parents have maintained that, despite her disability, she is a happy baby who responds to their touch. They say there is also evidence of improvement in her condition.
Justice Peel’s ruling came despite emergency intervention from the Italian government, which granted the young girl Italian citizenship, along with offering her free transfer and treatment at Rome’s prestigious Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital.
In a ruling by the Italian consul in Manchester, Indi was placed under the guardianship of the governor of the Bambino hospital.
The transfer has even been supported publicly by Italy’s premier Giorgia Meloni, who posted on X (formerly Twitter) in support of Indi: “They say there is not much hope for little Indi, but until the end I will do what I can to defend her life. And to defend the right of her mom and dad to do all they can for her.”
READ: UK judge orders 8-month-old taken off life support despite Italy offering treatment, citizenship
The case will provoke painful memories in readers about the fight for Alfie Evans: the Liverpool toddler was also granted Italian citizenship and the Bambino Gesù hospital was also willing to treat him. However, the British High Court remained adamant that it was in Alfie’s “best interests” to no longer remain alive, and so he died four days after doctors at the NHS Alder Hey hospital removed him from a ventilator.
LifeSiteNews encourages readers to take a moment after reading this article and pray for that Indi Gregory’s life will be preserved and that she will be permitted to receive care in Rome.