Baby life-support must continue

Doctors have been told to continue providing lifesupport treatment to a terminally ill baby at the centre of a high-profile legal battle for another three weeks to give judges in the European Court of Human Rights time to analyse the case. Chris Gard and Connie Yates want 10-monthold Charlie Gard, who suffers from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage, to undergo a therapy trial in the US.

Specialists at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, where Charlie is being cared for, say therapy proposed by a doctor in the US is experimental and will not help. They say life support treatment should stop.

Charlie’s parents hope judges in the European Court of Human Rights, in Strasbourg, France, will come to their aid after losing battles in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London. Their lawyers yesterday filed detailed legal arguments and Strasbourg judges say they will treat Charlie’s case with the “utmost urgency”.

Supreme Court justices in London say Great Ormond Street specialists should keep providing lifesupport treatment until midnight on July 10.

Three justices had analysed issues relating to continued treatment, pending a decision by European court judges, at a hearing in London early yesterday.

A European Court of Human Rights spokeswoman said the case would get “priority” and be treated with the “utmost urgency” in light of the exceptional circumstances of the case.