Alta Fixsler, a 2-year-old Hasidic girl, was taken off life support and died in the United Kingdom on Monday. This, despite her parents requesting that she be taken to Israel for treatment. This episode, similar to what happened to Charlie Gard in 2017, demonstrates the evils of socialized medicine.
According to the Jerusalem Post:
“Fixsler was born with severe brain damage and had been on life support since birth but the UK High Court ruled against the wishes of her family, that the girl’s life support care should be discontinued. Alta’s parents fought the National Health Service (NHS) in order to allow her to remain connected to the medical equipment keeping her alive, claiming that any cessation of life goes against the Jewish faith, to which they strictly adhere but the court ruled in May to discontinue care, siding with the NHS. According to the NHS, she was suffering and prolonging her life was futile, as she had no chance of recovery. UK medical guidelines approve ending care in such situations.”
When the U.K. Supreme Court ruled that Alta’s life support could be withdrawn, her parents appealed to the European Court of Human Rights. Their petition was declined in August. “The presumption in favor of taking all steps to preserve life, whilst strong, is also rebuttable … Life cannot be, and should not be, preserved at all costs,” the court ruled.
Under socialized medicine, the state, not the parents, makes medical decisions for patients.
Here, the nanny state acts like parents with more authority than parents. It is an immoral system that deprives people of their freedom. Indeed, it speaks to the worst impulse of socialism: the understanding that the government and its apparatchiks know better than the individual. Fixsler’s parents should have not been denied their sacred freedom to choose for their own child. Outside of extreme circumstances, parents know what is best for their children and should be the ultimate authority for them.
Under the NHS, however, children such as Fixsler or Gard are prevented from being taken out of the hospital. There was no way to take out either child safely due to the repressive security state that exists under socialized medicine. The United States granted Fixsler a visa earlier this year. Israel was ready to receive the young girl.
Regardless, parents should have the right to seek whatever treatments they see fit for their children. The state should not decide whether children live or die.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
