The Catholic bishops in the UK are mourning the death of baby Indi Gregory after she passed away today. And they called for more rights for parents after a court overruled her parents and allowed a hospital to remove her life support without their consent.
A UK appeals court ruled that a hospital can proceed with ending Indi’s lifesaving medical care despite her parents desperate efforts to get her to a hospital that would provide it. The hospital removed her life support yesterday and Indi died this morning.
Responding to her death, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales mourned Indi’s passing and celebrated her weekend baptism just hours before she died.
In a statement Bishop Patrick McKinneyof Nottingham, and Bishop John Sherrington, Lead Bishop for Life Issues, assured the parents of the Bishops’ prayers and “those of all the Catholic Community, including Pope Francis.”
“As a baptised child of God, we believe that she will now share in the joy of heaven after her short life which brought deep joy to her parents who loved and protected her as a precious gift of God”, they wrote.
They added that the horrendous court ruling “shows again the need for greater weight to be given to the parental voice in these complex and sensitive cases” and it called for legislation to affirm the rights of parents to make appropriate medical decisions for their children.
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“We will continue to contribute to wider discussions on questions of when treatment becomes disproportionate to any possible benefit and the duty of the continuation of basic care, including assisted nutrition and hydration, to protect the good of every child,” the statement concludes.
The 8-month-old Gregory died in her mother’s arms in a hospice at 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to British advocacy group Christian Concern.
Indi’s parents said they “are angry, heartbroken and ashamed. The NHS and the Courts not only took away her chance to live a longer life, but they also took away Indi’s dignity to pass away in the family home where she belonged.”
“Claire and I are again disgusted by another one-sided decision from the judges and the Trust. The whole world is watching and is shocked at how we have been treated,” the child’s father, Dean Gregory, said.
Indi suffered from a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease. She had been receiving life-sustaining treatment on a ventilator at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England.
As LifeNews had reported, a Vatican hospital had stepped up and agreed to provide care for 8-month-old baby Indi Gregory, where a British court ruled her life support could be revoked even though her parents are fighting for her life. But, that was not enough for the parents of this little girl to get a British appellate court to rule in their favor.
Indi’s parents got her baptized after a UK appeals court ruled a hospital could yank her life support without their consent.
After that decision, Indi’s parents, who are not religious, have decided to get their daughter baptized, saying they have seen the “pull of hell” in this entire spectacle with the courts denying their daughter the care she needs and blocking their efforts to transport Indi to an Italian hospital for appropriate care and treatment.
“When I was in the court, I felt as if Hell pulled at me,” said Dean Gregory, Indi’s dad. “I thought that if Hell exists, then Heaven must exist too.”
“It was like the devil was there,” he told an Italian newspaper. “I thought that if the devil exists, then God must exist too.”
“I have seen what hell is like and I want Indi to go to heaven.”
In fact, Dean says that he’s decided he should also be baptized. “We want to be protected in this life, and go to heaven.”
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Dean praised the testimony of a Christian volunteer who has visited Indi every day, and who told him that baptism “opens Heaven’s gates.” He also noted the work of his legal team provided by the Christian Legal Centre.
Indi suffers from a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease and has been receiving life-sustaining treatment on a ventilator at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England. But because doctors have given up hope there is now a legal feud between them, their desire to remove her from life support and her parents’ desire to continue medical treatment.
Indi’s father condemned the ruling.
Dean Gregory, said: “Claire and I are again disgusted by another one-sided decision from the judges and the Trust. The whole world is watching and is shocked at how we have been treated.
“Claire and I have always wanted what is in Indi’s best interests. She has human rights and we wanted her to have the best treatment possible. If the UK did not want to fund it, why can she not go to Italy and receive the treatment and care which the amazing Italian Prime Minister and government has offered.
“This feels like the latest kick in the teeth, and we will not give up fighting for our daughter’s chance to live until the end.”
The pro-life legal group Christian Concern, which is representing the Gregory family, also condemned the ruling.
“The ruling was made despite Indi being granted Italian citizenship and yesterday her Italian guardian making an urgent application to UK High Court calling on Mr Justice Robert Peel to cede jurisdiction of the case to him under Article 9§2 of the 1996 Hague Convention,” it told LifeNews.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre, called out British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, a member of the Conservative Party, for not speaking out in Indi’s defense.
“What good reason can there be to detain Indi here against the wishes of her parents when treatment is being offered in Rome,” Williams said. “The developments lay bare the difference in approach between two nations when the Italian Prime Minister has been public in her support of Indi Gregory and the right of her parents to access treatment in Rome and the British Prime Minister has remained silent.”
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