Little Charlie Gard will not live to his first birthday on August 4th.

His parents acquiesced to the British government yesterday, and announced that they wouldn’t be taking him for treatment in America. Now they just want to take their baby home to die.

Except that now Chris Gard and Connie Yates might be denied even this request. Instead, a British judge is expected to decide on Wednesday whether or not to allow their last wish. However, despite the parents’ incredible pain, that judge said that the chances of that were “small.”

Thus Charlie’s parents endure yet another level of cruelty from their government. Just for the chance to take their baby so he could die at home, they had to return to court. Even their lawyer is at wits end to explain why. “We struggle with the difficulties which the hospital has placed in the way of the parents’ wish to have a period of time probably a relatively short period of time … before the final act in Charlie’s short life,” said lawyer Grant Armstrong.

Oh, that wouldn’t be appropriate, say staff at the Great Ormond Street Hospital, which is now treating Charlie. You see, his ventilation system won’t fit through his home’s door. Best he die at hospice.

Former UK Independence Party Leader Nigel Farage sounded off on this atrocious treatment:

Do you know why British bureaucrats are loathe to relinquish little Charle to his home? The answer can be found in the words of Ian Kennedy of the University College of London. He’s a professor emeritus of health, law, ethics, and policy.

Here’s what Kennedy wrote in a recent editorial at The Guardian, commenting on Charlie Gard:

“These are the steps. The first is to recognise that children do not belong to their parents. . . . We need to remind ourselves that parents do not have rights regarding their children, they only have duties, the principal duty being to act in their children’s best interests.”

This, of course, is not how we do things in the U.S. I’m not a legal expert, but it seems to me that unless parents are reckless or abusive with their children, their rights are paramount. The state generally removes parental rights only in extreme cases of neglect or abuse. It only intervenes on medical issues if a parent is denying life-saving treatment for the child. Moreover, while parents don’t “own” children, like someone owns a pet, they are the final word in their children’s care. And while the U.S. is far from perfect, it’s hardly draconian. Rights and freedom are foremost.

However, the British government sees things differently. Their attitude can be found in the words of an internet meme: “All your children are belong to us.”