Charlie Gard Foundation hosts roundtable to discuss Charlie’s Law
With the new year comes new challenges: the pandemic continues to disrupt parliament with all Private Member’s Bill’s suspended for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, this means that Charlie’s Law is unlikely to have its second reading in the House of Commons until the next parliamentary session.
However, together with the White House Consultancy, Connie and Chris continue to press ahead and have held an extremely successful roundtable event to discuss Charlie’s Law. The roundtable took place on Thursday 28th January 2021 and brought together medical experts from the Nuffield Council on Bioethics, British Medical Association, Medical Mediation Foundation; legal experts; parliamentarians; and of course, Connie, Chris and baby Oliver!
Bambos Charalambous MP, leading on Charlie’s Law, chaired the roundtable event and used the discussion to receive feedback from specialists in palliative care, mediation and medical ethics, using the insights and views shared by the experts to inform the direction of the Bill. The event galvanised a broad consensus of support amongst the medical experts and parliamentarians alike, giving the Bill the best chance of passing when it returns to the House of Commons.
The roundtable has presented new opportunities to reengage with Health Minister, Helen Whately MP and build upon the last meeting – where she requested feedback on the Bill from the medical community. With the final version of the Bill and input from the medical community in hand, Bambos Charalambous MP will meet Whately again to discuss the latest version of Charlies Law. Finally, Bambos will also meet with the Ministry of Justice to discuss Charlie’s Law and advocate for the Bill’s legal aid provision.
As the foundation moves forward, we will continue to build support in the House of Commons and the House of Lords to maximise the Bill’s support ahead of its second reading. We will also be supporting Bambos as he meets with the government to promote the Bill and the essential measures it contains.
