British MP Shows Daughter’s Ultrasound in Parliament, Chaos Ensues

By Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
Life Site News

An MP held up a scan of his unborn baby in the Commons chamber to make a point about parental leave offered to members of parliament.

A baby first

The SNP's David Linden wanted more time to debate the principle of proxy voting - where another MP votes on a colleague's behalf, for example when they are on paternity leave - so it could be voted on later. Holding the picture aloft, Mr Linden told colleagues: 

"This is my daughter to be born in the autumn, so I'm particularly keen to see this be put in place as soon as possible."

The debate was pulled yesterday because of two Government statements and an urgent question, but Mr Linden may have unknowingly broken new ground - SPUC's sources believe that this is the first time an ultrasound scan of an unborn child has been shown in the Commons chamber.

Rarely acknowledged

In fact, despite the fact that abortion has been debated an unusual amount in recent months, the very mention of the unborn child is unusual enough to be noticed. During Stella Creasy's emergency debate on repealing sections of the Offences Against the Person Act (which would decriminalise abortion in England, Wales and Northern Ireland), the DUP's Sammy Wilson noted that the debate "has of course reflected the views of those who wish to control their own bodies, but what about the unborn child? That side has been lacking in most of the speeches today. What rights and protections does the state afford to unborn children?"

Shut out of debate

Mr Wilson and his colleagues did stand up for the rights of the unborn, but they were jeered and heckled for doing so. Hannah Bardell MP (SNP) stormed that for "DUP Members...to talk about unborn children being thrown in the bin or babies being disposed of, are disgusting ways to describe the choices that women have to make anywhere in the UK but particularly in Northern Ireland."

The Conservative MP Maria Caulfield was faced with similar vitriol when she defended the unborn during Diana Johnson's decriminalisation bill last year. 

"Too often today," she said then, "debates about abortion—about the risks involved and the rights of the unborn child—are shut down; but I, and many colleagues who share my views, will not be silenced as we seek to be a voice for the voiceless, and as we argue for more modern and humane abortion law that upholds not only the dignity and rights of women but the dignity and rights of the unborn child."

These comments meant Ms Caulfield faced a huge media outcry when she was appointed as the Conservative Vice-Chair for Women.

Life Site News continues here

British MP Proposes “Alfie’s Law” to Restore Parental Rights in Medical Situations

 "It’s time for Alfie’s Law”

By Cassy Fiano
Live Action News

The world watched in horror as Charlie Gard’s parents had their ability to make medical decisions forcibly taken away from them at the hands of the British government. Charlie was initially diagnosed with a rare RRM2B mitochondrial depletion syndrome, and his parents raised over $1.5 million for his care, hoping to take him to the United States to receive experimental treatment. 

This set off multiple court battles, as the Great Ormond Street Hospital and the British government repeatedly refused to allow them to seek care outside of the country. Charlie’s life support was ultimately removed, against his parents’ will, and he died last year.

Then the same situation happened again, this time with Alfie Evans. Unlike Charlie, Alfie still does not have a definitive diagnosis, but because his condition seems unlikely to improve — meaning that Alfie will be severely disabled for his entire life, if he does not die soon — staff at Alder Hey Hospital, along with the British government, seemingly want him dead. Alfie’s parents want to take their son to Bambino Gesu Hospital in Rome, where doctors are willing to treat Alfie with palliative care, and they also had air ambulance companies standing by to safely transport him. 

But it did not matter; Alfie’s parents lost appeal after appeal as judges ruled that there was no point in allowing Alife to continue living. Alfie’s life support was removed, but he has not died quickly as expected; instead, he’s been breathing independently for several days now. Astonishingly, hospital staff cruelly refused Alfie oxygen, food, and water for well over 24 hours, perhaps in the expectation that the toddler would not survive long.

Alfie’s case has, like Charlie’s, sparked international outrage. Now, a British MP is stepping in with a new proposal, which he calls “Alfie’s Law,” to ensure that no family has to go through such a horrific situation again.

MP Steve Woolfe announced his plan on Facebook, citing Alfie and Charlie’s cases, along with a boy named Aysha King, whose parents took him to the Czech Republic for proton beam therapy, and were “hunted across Europe” for it. Ashya is now in remission.

Woolfe launched his campaign outside the Houses of Parliament, calling for parents to have their right to make medical decisions for their children restored in the United Kingdom. 

“The cases of Charlie Gard, Aysha King, and now Alfie Evans, show a dangerous trend of public bodies depriving parents and families of the right to make decisions they believe are in the best interests of their children,” he said during a press conference. 

“Parents’ rights should neither be ignored nor dismissed as irrelevant by hospitals and courts, who believe they know best and have the power, money and resources to overwhelm families who simply want to save their child.”

“We demand a change in the law to restore the rights of parents in such decisions. All parents should be allowed an independent advocate to defend their case with the right legal and medical expertise and financial equality of arms,” he continued. “Now is the time to act. We cannot have another baby, another family, have to go through the struggle and torment the Evans family have. It’s time for Alfie’s Law.”

Website: Live Action News

 

Note: Alfie Evans passed from this life on 4/28/18. Please pray for his family and for a change in the laws in the not-so-great Britain.