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UK Judge Rules Against Parents of Toddler: Baby Alfie Will Not Go to Italy for Treatment

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A United Kingdom judge ruled Tuesday afternoon that toddler Alfie Evans, who has been fighting an undiagnosed brain disease and is now off life support, may not fly to a Vatican hospital in Rome for treatment.

Mr. Justice Hayden referred to his decision as the "final chapter in the case of this extraordinary little boy", according to LifeSiteNews.

CBN News spoke with Andrea Williams of the Christian Legal Centre, which is representing Alfie's parents, about the ruling.

"Every time standing counsel to the Christian Legal Centre Paul Diamond sought to raise the argument... in regard to parental rights and the child's best interest, the judge shut him down," Williams told CBN News. "He was not going to entertain the child going to Italy on any account."

"He did not give a reason as to why he would not entertain that," she continued. "He said that the child was a UK citizen, that he had no link to Italy."

"We intend to appeal, and that should happen tomorrow before three court judges," Williams said on Tuesday.

Christian Legal Centre lawyers told the BBC that there will be a hearing at the Court of Appeal Wednesday afternoon.

When asked what Christians can do during this time, she said, "Pray."

"We need to see God's intervention, and we need to see the possibility of Alfie going to Rome," Williams continued.

In an update posted to "Alfie's Army Official" Facebook page, the toddler's father, Tom Evans, was positive about his son's condition but complained about how Alfie is being treated at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool after being removed from life support.

"I'm not giving up because Alfie is breathing away. He's not suffering; he's not struggling," Evans said earlier Tuesday. "He's fighting. The nurse has just come in and said, 'He looks really good.'"

"And we just go on what he says, and Alfie's saying, 'Get him a flight,' but they're starving him at the moment," Evans continued.

"It's disgusting how they are treating us; they're just starving him; they wouldn't do this to an animal," he said. 

He did say hospital staff are giving Alfie fluids, but that did not come easy.

"It took me six hours to fight for fluid and for oxygen from last night," Evans said.

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Evans said he and Alfie's mother, Kate James, had to give Alfie mouth to mouth resuscitation and suction their son themselves to help him breathe.

In the update, Evans also looked to Wednesday's appeal.

"So now we see what the three judges in the Court of Appeal can do to us," he said. "Even if we don't achieve to get to Italy, then the judge is still offering us a chance to get home."

Hayden said during Tuesday's hearing that the best scenario for Alfie's parents was to look into the possibility of transferring him from intensive care to a hospice, ward or his home, according to the BBC.

"If the judge is prepared to contemplate a plan that would take him to his home, why wouldn't he contemplate allowing Alfie's parents to put him on an air ambulance to take him to a hospital?" Williams asked.

"So it is a total mystery to me why the judge won't accede to this plan, the parents' wishes," she continued. "He said it was well-meaning, but ill-founded."

The BBC reported that a doctor, who could not be identified for legal reasons, said a "sea change" in the family's attitude would be needed for Alfie to be permitted to go home.

The doctor said to the court that hospital officials were concerned that the "worst case" scenario would be Alfie's parents trying to take him out of the country, according to the BBC.

"The nurses and doctors are coming in continuously through the day, and they're not concerned," Evans said. "So I think the doctors now ought to let us go and stop making excuses up because they just don't want to see him come out of it."

"They want him to die; they want him to deteriorate in the next couple of hours so then they can say 'Oh look we told you', but in fact in reality I stood in the court case, and they told me that he wouldn't last longer than five minutes. He's lasted 22 hours," Evans said.

After Tuesday's hearing, Alder Hey released a statement:

"This evening the High Court again ruled that it is in Alfie's best interests to continue with the end of life care plan developed by the clinical team who have cared for him throughout. Our top priority therefore remains in ensuring Alfie receives the care he deserves to ensure his comfort, dignity and privacy are maintained throughout. This includes working closely with Kate and Tom as they spend this precious time together with him."

Monday, with the support of the UK court system, Alder Hey removed life support from Alfie.

The Italian government granted the toddler citizenship, hoping to further the process of Alfie's transfer to an Italian hospital that has already agreed to continue his treatment.

Antonio Tajani, president of the European Parliament, also announced his support for Alfie's transfer.

He said, "The power of love is defeating the cynicism of those who have pulled the plug. All my support to Alfie and his extraordinary parents."

Steven Woolfe, an independent politician and a member of the European Parliament, posted a live video on Facebook Tuesday to show support for Alfie.

"The state has control of our bodies,
not ourselves, not our parents, not our loved ones."

Woolfe said it's important that people continue to step up and fight for Alfie, adding that his case isn't the first of this kind, referencing the case of Charlie Gard  and Ashya King .

"They said Ashya was cancerous and had no way of being saved. Well his father fought for him and took him to Spain and guess what? Ashya King is alive and well today following treatment," Woolfe stated.

He continued, "If Alfie Evans can live and breathe on his own for 18 hours then what chance is there for him to be able to do the same as Ashya King?"

Woolfe went on to say at the end of his video that the problem with the whole situation is that "the state has control of our bodies, not ourselves, not our parents, not our loved ones."

"This is why its a fight we have to continue. Whatever happens with Alfie there will be other children for sure that the state will want to kill," he continued.

"This fight isn't over. Let's pray for a fair opportunity for Alfie," Wolfe concluded.

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About The Author

Mark
Martin

Mark Martin currently serves as a reporter and anchor at CBN News, reporting on all kinds of issues, from military matters to alternative fuels. Mark has reported internationally in the Middle East. He traveled to Bahrain and covered stories on the aircraft carrier, the U.S.S. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Mark also anchors CBN News Midday on the CBN Newschannel and fills in on the anchor desk for CBN News' Newswatch and The 700 Club. Prior to CBN News, Mark worked at KFSM-TV, the CBS affiliate in Fort Smith, Arkansas. There he served as a weekend morning producer, before being promoted to general