Almost a year ago, Charlie Gard was born in a London hospital with a rare mitochondrial DNA depletion syndrome that left him profoundly brain damaged. The hospital, mindful of the infant’s pain, wanted to end life support. The distraught parents fought the decision, and went to court to keep their baby alive — a drama that captured the sympathy of the nation. But the saga did not stay on that side of the Atlantic. Offered false hope by an American doctor promoting his own treatment, the family became tools of right-wing American critics of Britain’s single-payer National Health Service, who portrayed Charlie as a martyr to the tyranny of statism. Bob speaks with conservative British journalist Melanie Phillips about what the American right-wing media has gotten wrong about Charlie Gard's story, and why the conservative media in Britain and the United States approach healthcare so differently.
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