TIME

When parents and doctors disagree on what futile means

Charlie Gard’s parents are fighting doctors for the right to treat him with an experimental therapy

HE’S ONLY 11 MONTHS OLD, BUT Charlie Gard commands an army of the impassioned that numbers in the hundreds of thousands and includes a Pope and a President. This online platoon, including 350,000 people who have signed a petition on his behalf, is rallying behind his parents’ singular mission—for Charlie to stay alive. A far smaller but equally committed group, including a hospital and a court, is fighting back, defending the medical community’s right

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from TIME

TIME7 min read
Catalysts
It’s been a long time since there was good news about Parkinson’s disease, a neurodegenerative condition that affects more than 8 million people worldwide. But that changed this year, thanks in part to Michael J. Fox’s perseverance in raising awarene
TIME3 min read
Kathleen Hanna
You’ve been in the public eye since you founded your groundbreaking feminist punk band Bikini Kill, over 30 years ago. When did you decide to write your memoir? I started talking about it when I was maybe 40. Then I got sick with Lyme disease, and th
TIME6 min read
A Marriage Of Food And Fiction
Knocking on the front door, it’s already clear that this is one of those dreamy California artist houses, its rich green paint and big windows lighting up a quiet street. Inside there are flowers on the bathroom shelf, music lilting in the background

Related Books & Audiobooks