European Court orders hospital to continue life support for terminally-ill baby for another three weeks

The European Court of Human Rights has ordered a hospital in London to continue to provide life support treatment for a terminally-ill baby for another three weeks to give judges time to consider whether the child should undergo a trial therapy.

Chris Gard and Connie Yates, parents of 10-month old Charlie Gard, have brought a plea to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France to allow them to take their son to the U.S. for treatment. The couple is hoping that the Strasbourg court will come to their aid after losing battles in the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court in London.

Charlie, who is suffering from a rare genetic condition and has brain damage is being cared for at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London. But specialists at the hospital said that the child's life support must stop, adding that the therapy proposed by a doctor in the U.S. is experimental and will not help.

Katie Gollop, speaking on behalf of the hospital, said that the treatment "would take time" and that "over the weeks and months Charlie would be forced to remain in his perilous condition — he can't see, can't hear, can't cry, can't swallow. He has a mechanism that causes his lungs to go up and down. We don't know whether he suffers pain."

In April, High Court Judge Mr. Justice Francis ruled against Charlie's parents, saying the child's life support should be withdrawn and that the infant should be allowed to "die with dignity."

The ruling was upheld by three Court of Appeal judges in May and a further challenge by the parents was dismissed by three Supreme Court judges, according to BBC.

The judges in Strasbourg had previously ruled that the baby should remain on life support until midnight on June 19.

According to a report from Express, Supreme Court justices in London ordered the specialists at Great Ormond Street to keep providing treatment to Charlie until midnight on July 10.

A spokesperson for the Strasbourg court said that it will "will treat the application with the utmost urgency" but did not indicate when a final judgment will be made.

Charlie's parents have raised £1.3 million (US$1.6 million) on a crowdfunding website to pay for the experimental treatment in the U.S.