Due to severe birth defects, two-year-old Alta Fixsler has been on a ventilator her entire life, and requires round-the-clock medical care. When her doctors at the Manchester children’s hospital determined that she has “no conscious awareness” and should be removed from life-support, her ḥasidic parents decided to take her either to the U.S. or to Israel, where doctors have offered to treat her. But Britain won’t allow it. Jon Levine writes:
The family has been fighting for Alta in British courts since 2019, and has faced a string of losses as the case slowly wound its way through the legal system. . . . So far, the British government has refused to allow Alta to leave. The issue is not one of red tape, but rather the wish of her current doctors not to see her life extended elsewhere, court papers show.
“It cannot be said to be in Alta’s best interests to be transferred to Israel for life-sustaining treatment to continue,” ruled the Court of Appeal’s Justice Alistair MacDonald in his June decision.
“There is no reason to kill my daughter like this,” [the girl’s father], Abraham Fixsler, told the New York Post. Fixsler, who holds American and Israeli citizenship and is a legal resident of England, said he was encouraged by doctors abroad, who said there may yet be superior treatment options not available to England’s price-conscious socialized healthcare system. The family is currently awaiting a hearing to determine if England’s highest court will hear their case. No date for the hearing has been set.
Senators Charles Schumer, Cory Booker, and Robert Mendendez—along with ten Republican senators and the former president Israeli president Reuven Rivlin—have all attempted to help the Fixslers.
Read more on New York Post: https://nypost.com/2021/07/17/parents-fight-uk-court-demanding-they-take-daughter-off-life-support