Ted CruzVerified account

Alfie Evans was born on May 9, 2016 in the United Kingdom. When he was only several months old, he was struck by a mysterious illness, and slipped into coma.

Doctors initially thought that Alfie would not survive long, but he fought back time and time again, until a chest infection forced him to rely on a ventilator.

Alfie’s parents, Kate James and Tom Evans, wish to seek experimental treatments for what is thought to be a mitochondrial condition. Italy has granted Alfie citizenship and offered to transport him to a Vatican hospital.

But UK and European courts have denied their right to seek alternate treatments for their son and instead have forcibly kept him in a hospital. Now they have turned off the ventilator and are waiting for him to die.

These events remind us of the tragic case of Charlie Gard last year.

It is a sad irony that while the people of the UK are busy celebrating a royal birth, its government is brushing off a commoner’s right to life.

It is a grim reminder that systems of socialized medicine like the National Health Service (NHS) vest the state with power over human lives, transforming citizens into subjects.