LONDON (LifeSiteNews) — An Anglican clergyman is willing to break an “immoral law” governing the case of ST, the 19-year-old fighting for the right to live against the UK courts and National Health Service.
On Saturday, September 9, the London-based Reverend Calvin Robinson used his GB News show to express his willingness to violate the reporting restrictions on the ST case and to invite ST and her family to contact him for help.
“I don’t care if they say it is illegal. It is an immoral law. If there is a gagging order —. If this woman wants to speak out, and they are not letting her—! Get in touch.”
Appealing directly to the teenager, Robinson added, “I will put your name out there if you want your name out there. Get in touch with me, please.”
“I don’t think there is anything more important than the right to life,” Robinson told his talk show guests. “That’s not just about fighting against abortion. That’s about things like this [case] as well.”
The clergyman posted a video clip of this show to X.
Patient ST wants to live.
Her doctors think she should give up. The State has sided with her doctors.
They have imposed a gagging order, preventing ST from revealing her identity. This is censorship and state overreach.
ST, we are happy to help. Get in touch. God bless you. 🙏 https://t.co/IMZkKQ1Z5p pic.twitter.com/SySPKmkUPn
— Dcn Calvin Robinson (@calvinrobinson) September 11, 2023
RELATED: ‘I trust in God and will not give up hope’: UK teen still determined to stay alive despite doctors
Yesterday Robinson told LifeSiteNews that the right to life “trumps any immoral law.”
“To a Christian, the sanctity of life is paramount,” he said. “No human law can override natural law or divine law. Our God-given right to life — quite literally — trumps any immoral law of the land.”
“This case is incredibly sad,” he continued. “Two psychiatrists have deemed [ST] compos mentis, yet the arrogant medical doctors have deemed her delusional for not following their apparently infallible advice and preferring to fight to live rather than give up and die.”
“They say she is ‘actively dying.’ Which of us isn’t?”
Robinson noted that the restriction order limits ST’s access to both financial and spiritual help; people can neither give her money nor pray for her by name.
Describing the restriction order as “censorship” and “state overreach,” Robinson said the ruling that neither ST nor her parents can be named “is immoral.”
He then repeated his commitment to breaking this “immoral law” should ST or her family choose to contact him directly.
“If Patient ST gets in touch, I will be willing to breach this order and help her raise awareness,” he told LifeSiteNews.
“It is outrageous that our National Health Service and our judiciary place such a low value on the individual human life.”
Robinson, who has confronted many controversies in British politics and society, cited the case as an example of the evils arising from the subtraction of Christian teachings from British life. He argues that human life and its value have been severely diminished.
“This is another example of why removing Christian values from the public square is detrimental to our very way of life,” he told LifeSite.
“Our human experience is dwindled down to the cost of keeping us alive, and our value is purely utilitarian. What a sad way to view people, and the world.”
Robinson concluded his challenge to the ruling with a direct appeal to Christians everywhere.
“The faith teaches us that every human life is sacred,” he said.
“That means that every person’s life is worth fighting for. God bless Patient ST. I hope she gets the help she needs.”
Imposed by a High Court judge, the reporting restrictions placed on ST’s case have been described as “draconian” by the UK press. Violation of the gagging order can attract severe penalties including imprisonment, fines, and the seizure of assets.
It also prevents the family from fundraising an estimated £1.5 million pounds required for ST’s nucleoside treatment in Canada, and for an air ambulance to facilitate her travel.
UK actor, commentator, and politician Laurence Fox has indicated that he believes the restrictions are intended to prevent the public sympathy which has led protests and international support attracted by similar cases in the past.
RELATED: British TV star Laurence Fox condemns ruling against life-supporting treatment for dying UK teen
Last week Professor David Albert Jones of the Oxford-based Anscombe Bioethics Centre described Mrs. Justice Robertson’s ruling that the fully conscious ST was incapable of consenting to further life-sustaining treatment as “lethal paternalism.”
The case of ST continues with a legal appeal to lift reporting restrictions already underway.
You can sign the LifeSite petition to lift reporting restrictions in the case of ST here.