The UK has its mind set on killing little Alfie Evans. And if you’re an American conservative who thinks that’s shameful, then you’re just pouncing. At least according to the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs:
US conservatives use case of terminally ill child Alfie Evans to criticize NHS https://t.co/mUR4wbedfM
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) April 26, 2018
The headline is bad enough. And then you read the post:
The child’s parents have pushed a British court to allow the child to fly to the Vatican for emergency medical treatment after doctors agreed all further treatment futile and had his life support withdrawn. However, a judge in Manchester ruled against them, the latest in a series of court decisions where judges have agreed that there is no hope of recovery.
That makes it sound like the people responsible for letting Evans starve to death after he continued to breathe on his own when the breathing tube being removed didn’t kill him did so out of compassion. No mention of the fact that the judges have also ruled that Evans’ parents must not be allowed to seek treatment elsewhere, despite the fact that they’ve been granted Italian citizenship and physicians at an Italian hospital are prepared to treat their son.
More:
Texas senator Ted Cruz tweeted several times about the case on Wednesday. He used it to criticize British health care system, saying: “It is a grim reminder that systems of socialized medicine like the NHS vest the state with power over human lives, transforming citizens into subjects.” Cruz went on to ask the British government to support Evans’s parents. “I urge the UK gov to grant the Evans family’s request to treat their precious child in Italy. Americans strive to achieve the promise of ‘life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness’ for all our citizens, no matter how young or old,” tweeted Cruz.
This was echoed by Mike Huckabee, who has twice unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination. He went on Fox News to say that the British government was treating Evans as “disposable and expendable” and warned that “this is what happens when government gets in complete control of a healthcare system”. He went on to say that “the British government is deciding it’s God and it is going to make the decision of life or death”.
Other American conservatives struck even more ardent notes. The former Republican congressman and radio host Joe Walsh tweeted: “Why does an American need an AR-15?’ To make sure what’s happening to #AlfieEvans never happens here. That’s why.”
Erick Erickson, a leading conservative activist and commentator, tweeted: “The British press is not a free press or a moral press. If it were, it’d be making a really big deal about the UK killing Alfie Evans.”
Jacobs can’t explain why any them are wrong. But for some reason, he finds it worth pointing out that Mike Huckabee is a failed presidential candidate. So effing what? Regardless of how you feel about Mike Huckabee — or Ted Cruz, Joe Walsh, or Erick Erickson — the fact remains that the UK’s precious NHS is systematically killing an innocent little boy. They did the same with Charlie Gard — and with countless other patients whose lives were judged to be unworthy of saving. American conservatives raising awareness about Alfie Evans and the NHS’ brutality aren’t the problem; people like Ben Jacobs whose first instinct is to bend over backwards to defend state-sanctioned murder are.
Are you serious? https://t.co/D1F5r4nUrH
— BT (@back_ttys) April 26, 2018
Seriously, this is the quintessential "Republicans pounce" piece. https://t.co/K4UrFlro6N
— meh-lancholy (@RightAllTheTime) April 26, 2018
"Conservatives pounce on health-care system that sentences toddlers to death."https://t.co/D1F5r4nUrH
— BT (@back_ttys) April 26, 2018
https://twitter.com/TheOpulentAmish/status/989499216203415552
https://twitter.com/RobProvince/status/989499148457140225
https://twitter.com/Oil_Guns_Merica/status/989499876118548480
You’re a soulless hack who just doesn’t get it. At all!
— Farmer’s Daughter (@TobyandMel) April 26, 2018
Editor’s note: This post has been updated with additional tweets.
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