UK High Court decides to end life for baby with mitochondrial disease despite offer from Italian hospital to provide treatment

The U.K. High Court has ruled that Indi Gregory, an eight-month-old suffering from mitochondrial disease, will not have her life support treatment concluded at home, and is preventing her from being treated in Italy, which granted her citizenship to allow treatment at a hospital in Rome.

Despite her parents' wishes for her to return to their Ilkeston home, the court determined that it would be best for the treatment to cease in a hospice or hospital environment, BBC News reported.

Justice Peel's written judgment explained that the complexities of Indi's condition necessitated professional care during the removal of life support, which her home could not provide. The medical team at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham emphasized the need for trained professionals to handle any complications and to ensure minimal distress during the process.

According to the BBC, mitochondrial disease is an incurable condition that affects cellular energy production, and has left Indi in a state where the hospital says further medical intervention cannot improve her condition.

Previous legal attempts by Indi's parents to challenge the withdrawal of life support—including appeals to the Court of Appeal in London and the European Court of Human Rights—have been unsuccessful.

The Christian Legal Centre, supporting the family, has indicated that they plan to appeal the recent High Court decision.

As detailed by Jacopo Coghe of Italy’s Pro Vita Famiglia organization, the British judiciary ordered the death of Gregory “despite the fact that the Roman Bambino Gesù Hospital has offered to treat her in Italy and the Italian government has granted Italian citizenship to the little girl to allow the transfer.”

Indi's father expressed frustration and a strong desire to seek treatment in Italy, highlighting that it would incur no cost to the UK hospital or government. However, the court's ruling prioritizes insists that her life be terminated.

“English judges are ordering the death of an Italian citizen, based on a gruesome euthanasia parameter of ‘dignity of life,’" wrote Coghe. “We are falling back into the worst mistakes of human history.”

Ian Miles Cheong

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Ian Miles Cheong is a freelance writer, graphic designer, journalist and videographer. He’s kind of a big deal on Twitter.

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