March for Life president reacts to infant Indi Gregory's mandated removal from life support in UK
March for Life President Jeanne Mancini compared Indi Gregory to Charlie Gard, a UK infant pulled from life support in 2017 under similar circumstances
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}March for Life President Jeanne Mancini has spoken out about the death of 8-month-old infant Indi Gregory, who was taken off of life support Monday after judges in the United Kingdom upheld a ruling mandating her parents allow her to die.
Having received clearance from the Italian government for continued treatment at a Vatican pediatric hospital, the U.K. courts' mandate to end the baby's life was heavily scrutinized and has become a flash point for pro-life issues.
Mancini told Fox News Digital that the child's death is one to be grieved about and compared it to a similar case.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It reminds me of Charlie Gard from a few years ago," Mancini told Fox News Digital. "It was maybe 2018, 2017, and there was a young little baby, very similar, that the U.K. wouldn't allow certain treatments. And the parents really, truly wanted these treatments."
This undated family handout photo shows infant Indi Gregory, who was forced off life support by the United Kingdom courts despite eagerness to take custody of the baby from the Italian government and Vatican leadership. (Family Handout/PA via AP)
"I was able to meet the parents after Charlie passed away, but it seems to me that the parents should have the freedom to choose what kind of treatment they want," Mancini insisted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Gard, a terminally ill baby whose parents were seeking to transfer him out of the U.K. for experimental treatment, was similarly mandated to be taken off life support by the British court system in 2017.
Gard's parents, Chris Gard and Connie Yates, were embroiled in a legal battle for months, trying to bring their infant son to the United States for the experimental medical treatment that offered a sliver of hope to combat Gard's rare genetic disease, mitochondrial depletion syndrome.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}President of the March for Life Education and Defense Fund Jeanne Mancini. (The Washington Post/ Contributor)
The Gard case was similar in many ways to that of Gregory, who suffered from a rare condition known as mitochondrial disease.
The deaths of both Gard and Gregory have raised questions about the United Kingdom's treatment of terminally ill patients and the government's unwillingness to allow them to seek treatment outside the country.
Mancini said she could not comment on the details of the Gregory case, but she stated that she considered Gregory's story a distinctly pro-life case worth grieving, similar to Gard.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Connie Yates, left, and Chris Gard, parents of terminally-ill 10-month-old Charlie Gard, pose with a petition of signatures supporting their case, prior to delivering it to the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in central London. Gard was later mandated to be taken off life support and allowed to die. (TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)
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"Gard had those same opportunities offered and the U.K. wouldn't allow the transfer," Mancini told Fox News Digital. "So it was very strange, and I don't want to make a comment on that because I don't know enough about the details, but it's definitely a pro-life case and something to consider. And we're just grieving the loss of this child and grieving for her parents."
Dean Gregory, Indi's father, said before her death that he was inspired to baptize his daughter by Christian legal volunteers who fought to keep her alive. Dean Gregory said he became convinced of the existence of the devil by his family's treatment in the courtroom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I am not religious and I am not baptized. But when I was in court, it felt like I had been dragged to hell," Dean Gregory said in a Nov. 6 interview with New Daily Compass. "I thought, if hell exists then heaven must exist. It was like the devil was there. I thought if there’s a devil then God must exist."