WESTMINSTER, England, June 23, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A hearing in the U.K. Court of Appeal on a recent High Court decision to allow the removal of life support from a 2-year-old brain-damaged girl concluded today. No judgment has been made yet, however.
Two-year-old Alta Fixsler, who suffered brain damage at birth, is currently receiving care in a pediatric intensive care unit in a hospital under the operation of the Manchester University National Health Service (NHS) Foundation Trust. The hospital fought in May at the High Court to have Fixsler’s life support removed after her parents objected to the recommendation.
Fixsler’s parents subsequently petitioned to have their daughter discharged and taken overseas for continued care. The hospital, however, claimed that she will never recover from her current condition, arguing that disconnecting the girl’s ventilation is in her best interest. Removing ventilation will, in all likelihood, lead to Fixsler’s death.
Fixsler’s parents contested the hospital’s decision to remove care to the Court, arguing that to do so would be an affront to her Orthodox Jewish faith and offering alternative care for their daughter in an Israeli hospital.
The parents of Alta Fixsler are pleading with the British courts not to remove life support from their brain-damaged daughter, so that they can transport her to a hospital in Israel or the U.S.
Could you do your part and SIGN and SHARE this petition which asks the British courts and hospital system to allow the Fixslers to remove their daughter from the UK so that she can live, and not be killed by so-called "passive euthanasia" where her life support is taken away?
Late last month, High Court Justice Mr. Alistair McDonald insanely ruled that it is in Alta's "best interests" to have her life support stopped, and that Manchester University NHS could begin the process of removing her life support.
But, Mr. and Mrs. Fixsler, who are are Orthodox Jews living according to Hebrew law, strenuously objected to the hospital depriving Alta of life support and she was given a reprieve, but we don't know how long that will last.
In fact, just yesterday, a British Court of Appeal declined to render judgement in this case, giving more hope that little Alta might be able to leave the UK and be treated in another country.
And, both American and Israeli lawmakers have spoken up against the planned passive euthanasia death of Alta, with a host of U.S. Senators, as well as the Israeli Health Minister and President, petitioning different British officials to stop the process of causing Alta's death.
We concur with what the Senators wrote: "It is unacceptable that people in government think they, not parents, should decide what is in the best interest of a child, even in a matter of life and death."
Please SIGN and SHARE this urgent petition now.
The story of a brain-damaged child in England in danger of a passive euthanasia opposed by both his or her parents and officials overseas is now a distressingly familiar one.
In the 2017 case of Charlie Gard, Pope Francis, President Donald Trump, and 37 European MPs sided with the infant’s parents against the British courts that agreed to allow the NHS to withdraw his life support. Almost one-year-old Charlie died 12 minutes after he was removed from a ventilator.
In 2018, Tom Evans, the Catholic father of Alfie Evans, appealed to Pope Francis on behalf of his almost two-year-old son, and the pontiff did indeed ask for prayers for the youngster. Both Polish and Italian hospitals were willing to treat the brain-injured boy, but the British courts refused to release him. Alfie died four days after he was removed from a ventilator.
In 2019, Tafida Raqeeb, then five years old, made headlines when her Muslim parents fought the Barts Health NHS Trust’s request to stop treating the brain-damaged girl. Once again, an Italian hospital offered to treat the sick child, and in this case the judge – Mr Justice Alistair MacDonald – ruled that the child could be allowed to live and taken to Italy for treatment.
And, in 2021, six-year-old Pippa Knight was not permitted to live despite the wishes of her widowed mother Paula. Pippa died in May after doctors removed her life support.
RIGHT NOW, please help little Alta and her parents fight for her right to live, and not be killed by having her life support removed.
Thank you for SIGNING and SHARING this urgent petition.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
'No judgment yet: Panel to ‘think carefully’ about taking 2-year-old Alta Fixsler off life support' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/no-judgment-yet-panel-to-think-carefully-about-taking-2-year-old-alta-fixsler-off-life-support
'US senators, Israeli officials appeal against UK High Court decision to deny Jewish toddler food, water, oxygen' - https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/us-senators-israeli-officials-appeal-against-uk-high-court-decision-to-deny-jewish-toddler-food-water-oxygen
'Judge rules Jewish girl's life support can be withdrawn' - https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-57276221
Photo Credit: screenshot / 'PA'
The judge, Mr. Justice Alistair MacDonald, declared that “no medical benefit” could be found in Fixsler being taken to Israel, adding that further care provides “no prospect” of recovery. Ultimately, MacDonald ruled that it was in the child’s “best interests for the treatment that is currently sustaining her precious life now to be withdrawn” on May 28, insisting that “it is in her best interests for a palliative care regime to be implemented.”
MacDonald urged that the parents “cannot be criticised for having reached a different decision informed by the religious laws that govern their way of life,” but insisted that Fixsler herself has not adopted the Jewish belief system, being a two-year-old girl, and therefore cannot be presumed to share her parents’ beliefs and values, including about life and death.
Applying to overturn MacDonald’s ruling at the U.K. Court of Appeal, Fixsler’s lawyer argued against MacDonald’s assumption that Fixsler cannot be presumed to hold Jewish principles, since her whole background is steeped in the Jewish tradition.
“If there had been lots of evidence of Alta rejecting the mores of that community, then that would be one thing,” Fixsler’s lawyer stated. “But where there isn’t, and we are talking about a baby born into a community, every member of which is part of that tradition, belief system, and mode of living … then it is not for Mr. Justice MacDonald to sit speculating that [Alta’s Jewish belief system] is some improper assumption. It is in fact the only proper assumption.”
The Court heard arguments from both the hospital’s counsel and the Fixsler’s for around an hour and a half before closing. The presiding judge, Lord Justice Baker, announced that no decision would be handed down today as the panel wants “to think carefully about the matters … and reread the papers. That means judgement will be handed down at a later date.”