Contact: Tom Shakely, Executive Director, Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network, 855-300-4673 ext 1, tshakely@lifeandhope.com

PHILADELPHIA, Penn., July 24, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network stands in solidarity with Chris Gard and Connie Yates as they conclude their heroic pursuit of treatment for little Charlie Gard, their son. After fighting London physicians, as well as the British legal system, for months, Chris and Connie have learned from recent medical tests that "the window of opportunity to help" Charlie has closed, as the Associated Press reports. Grant Armstrong, attorney for Chris and Connie, stated, "It's too late for Charlie. The damage has been done."

In the Royal Court of Justice in London, Connie stated, "Charlie was left to lie [in Great Ormond Street Hospital] and deteriorate. We wanted Charlie to have the chance ... [there] was never false hope, as confirmed by many experts. Now we'll never know..." Connie and Chris underscored that they "should have been trusted as parents."

"The international drama of Charlie's case could have been avoided if Chris and Connie had been allowed their basic right as parents to get the treatment for Charlie they sought from the beginning," declared Bobby Schindler, President of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network.

Charlie Gard's case is neither isolated nor unique. In its 12 year history, the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network has witnessed physicians and hospitals routinely impose their decisions on patients and families without consent through a variety of means. The trend of bioethical aggression that denies patients their basic rights and affords so-called "experts" total control over their lives shows few signs of slowing. It is a trend that threatens our most basic right as human beings to life and to protection from the state.

"Charlie deserved the best available treatment in a timely fashion," continued Schindler. "Instead of providing that, the UK medical and legal fields let Charlie languish and deteriorate to the point where treatments that have worked for other children like him no longer had a chance. Charlie Gard is a victim of a culture of medical indifference that turned out to be as corrosive and ultimately lethal as was his underlying genetic condition. His parents are heroes for fighting for him."

The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network upholds human dignity through service to the medically vulnerable, and has advocated for more than 2,500 patients and families.