The sad news that little Charlie Gard has died in hospice care is not a shock, but it is a tragedy.

After raising money to get treatment for their child, parents Connie Yates and Chris Gard have been continually thwarted at every turn by the British medical health system because the hospital – the hospital! – had decided it was better for Charlie to die. Better that than – what? Letting him go and losing face? Admitting that maybe the NHS doesn’t have all the answers?

Charlie’s parents did what any parents would do – they fought for their child to live. They loved their little boy. The world watched as the legal battle waged on.

But the legal fight wasted precious time, and in the end, that was all the time that little Charlie was going to be allowed to have, as the experimental treatment that might have had a chance… had been delayed for too long. Charlie’s parents heartbreakingly gave up the legal fight to get him to the United States for treatment.

And in a final insult, the hospital would not allow Charlie to go home to die, but instead moved him to hospice care yesterday. And now he has died. He didn’t live to celebrate his first birthday.

'Our beautiful little boy has gone': Family confirm Charlie Gard has diedhttps://t.co/o7D6RXDCzI pic.twitter.com/WPt5lQp3rg

— ITV News (@itvnews) July 28, 2017

Rest in peace, Charlie. You will not be forgotten. May God surround the Gards with love as we lift them up in prayer. https://t.co/gPjPJE2dfS

— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) July 28, 2017

We are all the less for the fact that the Almighty State has decided that Charlie’s life was not worth trying to save. Those hospital administrators, legal minds, and judges who determined that this one little boy was a lost cause? Well, they might have a slight pang of conscience today, but it will pass. After all, they are so mightily convinced of their own righteousness.

However, I believe that someday, they will have to be called to account for the life and death of a little boy they deemed unworthy. I would not want to be in their place when that day comes.

Our hearts go out to Chris Gard and Connie Yates, who are suffering through the greatest pain anyone can ever know. No one should ever have to bury a child. May they find peace, and remember their little boy with joy.