LONDON—The parents of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard on Tuesday accused a London hospital of preventing their son from coming home to die, the latest harrowing confrontation in a legal battle that has raised emotions far and wide.
The renowned children’s hospital treating Charlie told a court that the reality of the invasive ventilation the infant requires means that proper end-of-life care cannot be provided to him in his parents’ home.
The plight of 11-month-old Charlie, who suffers from an extremely rare genetic condition causing progressive brain damage and muscle weakness, has been at the center of a bitter dispute between his parents and Great Ormond Street Hospital.
The case has triggered a strident debate on social media and in the press about whether doctors or parents should decide a child’s fate. U.S. President Donald Trump and Pope Francis are among many people not directly involved who have weighed in with views.
“Emotions are as high in this case as they could be in any,” said the judge presiding over the case, Nicholas Francis.
Charlie requires a ventilator to breathe and cannot see, hear or swallow.
