In a world where the sanctity of life is under siege, the heart-wrenching saga of Indi Gregory stands as a clear indictment of a system gone awry. Indi, an 8-month old baby girl who suffered from a rare mitochondrial disease, became a pawn in a bureaucratic game of life and death – a game where cold calculations trumped the cries of a desperate family.
While her parents fought a battle in court to remove the child from the hospital in Nottingham where she had been receiving life-sustaining treatments from birth, the judge eventually sided with the hospital which had determined there was nothing that could be done to save her life. They informed the family they would no longer offer treatments to little Indi.
In light of their decision, Indi’s Mom and Dad did what any other set of desperate parents would do–find a place where her life could be saved. They found a hospital in Italy, the Bambino Gesù, a Vatican-run pediatric hospital in Rome. The doctors there offered to place a stent in Indi’s heart in an attempt to address cardiac issues and also carry out a number of additional experimental treatments. They had reported success in other children with similar healthcare challenges.
But the British government said no. Then they denied Indi’s parents the right to leave the hospital or seek care elsewhere. They would not even allow her to be taken to her own home to die peacefully with her family.
Indi Gregory died on November 13, 2023. But the question that echoes in my mind so loudly is why? Why not try everything? Why not let her leave? Why keep her hostage by order of a judge? Why not allow the parents to make decisions for their child?
This is nothing short of state-sanctioned murder masquerading as healthcare policy.
This case isn't just about medical ethics gone awry; it's about the creep of a modern eugenics. It's a term we thought relegated to the darkest chapters of history, yet here we are, seeing its shadow loom over the life of an innocent child. The British system deemed Indi's life as disposable, her illness too costly, her existence a ledger entry rather than a precious spark of humanity.
Plus, it’s not even the first time this has happened. In 2017, Charlie Gard’s fate was sealed when the courts decided that he should be removed from life support–left to die just one month shy of his first birthday. One year later, a two-year old named Alfie Evans faced a similar fate when the courts decided to refuse transfer of the toddler to a different hospital.
In both of these cases, multiple healthcare outlets volunteered to help, which included covering the cost and even granting a special citizenship to the children in order to aid in the babies transfer.
There's an unsettling silence from the mainstream media. Outlets like CNN and MSNBC have turned a blind eye, conspicuously absent in their coverage of this tragedy. Why the silence? Is it, as some suggest, ideologically driven? Does it uncomfortably intersect with the pro-choice movement's narrative on the value of life?
Let's be clear: The ideological underpinnings in this case are as disturbing as they are evident. This is not just about healthcare policy; it's about the value we assign to human life, and how that value is distorted by bureaucratic edicts and cost-benefit analyses.
As the great Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act."
In the face of such moral bankruptcy, silence is not just complicity; it's endorsement. We must speak out, loud and clear, against modern-day eugenics. Because if we don't, we tacitly allow the erosion of our most fundamental values – the respect for life in all its forms, the dignity of the individual, and the sacred duty to protect the most vulnerable among us.
The story of Indi Gregory is more than a tragic footnote; it's a wake-up call. A call to action against a creeping darkness that, left unchecked, threatens to engulf the very soul of our civilization.
Governments have been acting beastly, as though they were gods. The Old Testament is replete with warnings and oracles against this pride, and rebuking it. As in Ezekiel 28, "you say in your heart, 'I am God."
Single payer health systems have set up government with pseudo-God authority over life and death.
And when the Church plays along it gives (seeming) legitimacy to these blasphemous claims of the State.
Submit to God and resist the devil.