A crowd gathers outside the Auckland High Court as an urgent hearing takes place to decide the care of a baby whose parents refuse to use blood from vaccinated donors. Video / NZ Herald
The parents of a gravely ill baby boy who was yesterday placed in the guardianship of the High Court so he could undergo a blood transfusion have appeared on far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars podcast.
They told the embattled conspiracist they disagreed with the court’s decision and Jones peddled further misinformation about vaccines and the safety of blood from anyone who had received it.
Alex Jones, conservative conspiracy theorist host of Infowars, in his studio in Austin, Texas on February 17, 2017. Photo / Ilana Panich-Linsman, The New York Times
The parents’ case had become a cause célèbre for anti-vaccine activists and had drawn global media attention previously. They told Jones they had their own donors, however in a hearing in the High Court an order by the parents’ lawyer to establish such a service was declined in the best interest of the baby.
Jones last week filed for personal bankruptcy protection as he faced nearly US$1.5 billion in court judgments over conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook school massacre.
Jones last week filed for personal bankruptcy protection as he faced nearly US$1.5 billion in court judgments over conspiracy theories he spread about the Sandy Hook school massacre. Photo / NZME
In cases in Texas and Connecticut, some relatives of the 20 children and six adults killed in the school shooting in 2012 testified that they were threatened and harassed for years by people who believed the lies told on Jones’ show. One parent testified that conspiracy theorists urinated on his 7-year-old son’s grave and threatened to dig up the coffin.
Jones has also played host to other conspiracy theorists and platformed beliefs of the far-right. Last week rapper Kanye West said on the podcast that he “liked Hitler”.
A crowd of over 100 anti-vaccine activists gathered outside the Auckland High Court during the hearing on Tuesday, which came after Health NZ Te Whatu Ora brought an urgent application for the courts to take guardianship of the baby under the Care of Children Act so he could undergo surgery and the transfusion.
The parents did not want their ailing six-month-old boy to receive a blood transfusion during life-saving heart surgery if the donors have received a Covid-19 vaccine.
The baby has a heart valve disorder requiring urgent surgery. Medical experts have said he would normally have been treated long ago had the parents not refused the procedure and required the application from Te Whatu Ora.
People gathered outside of the Auckland High Court as Health New Zealand sought guardianship of a baby in need of heart surgery after the parents refused to allow blood from vaccinated people to be used. Photo / Alex Burton
Speaking with Alex Jones, the parents, who have name suppression, said the Court’s decision was “just disgusting, you know, trying to make us prisoners in a hospital.”
Justice Ian Gault ordered the baby, who has automatic suppression, was to be placed under the guardianship of the court “from the date of the order until completion of his surgery and post-operative recovery to address obstruction to the outflow tract of his right ventricle and at latest until 31 January 2023″.
The parents told Jones, “it’s so much bigger than us, it so much bigger than the baby.
“We’ve never once said we don’t want the operation. We wanted it. But we want it with the safest blood.”
The judgment traversed the fact, revealed in court on Tuesday, that the baby boy has already had a blood transfusion of the type opposed by his parents, in October this year.
During the hearing, the parents’ lawyer Sue Grey cited information provided in an affidavit by Dr Byram Bridle, an associate professor in viral immunology at a veterinary college in Canada.
The mother of the baby outside the High Court with Liz Gunn (right) and lawyer Sue Grey. Photo / NZME
The material was critical of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine and centred on his controversial claims of heart inflammation from spike proteins.
Last year Bridle’s claim the spike protein was harmful or toxic was circulated widely online, drawing strong criticism from experts.
William Matchett, a University of Minnesota Medical School vaccine expert, told the Associated Press the spike protein causes an immune response but is not toxic. Matchett said Bridle selectively quoted or misquoted studies to support his claim.
In his ruling, Justice Gault found the evidence of Bridle did not overcome the evidence of Dr Sarah Morley, Chief Medical Officer of the New Zealand Blood Service.
“Dr Morley’s evidence (including her reply affidavit) is that there is no scientific evidence there is any Covid-19 vaccine-related risk from blood donated by donors previously vaccinated with any New Zealand approved Covid-19 vaccine, and there are no known or suspected harmful vaccine-related effects of blood from a vaccinated individual to a recipient of any age, after millions of transfusions around the world,” Justice Gault said.
People gathered outside of the Auckland High Court as Health New Zealand sought guardianship of a baby in need of heart surgery after the parents refused to allow blood from vaccinated people to be used. Photo / Alex Burton
“There is no evidence that trace amounts of vaccine in blood or blood products could cause myocarditis. If there is any spike protein at all in blood, it will be in the picogram range (one trillionth of a gram).”
The ruling said the baby’s parents remain his legal guardians aside from the medical matters covered in the order. The judgment requires two Starship hospital doctors to at all times keep the parents informed of their baby’s condition and treatment.
Justice Gault had reserved his decision following the marathon hearing where Paul White, lawyer for Te Whatu Ora, sought an order granting the court guardianship in respect of the 6-month-old boy’s medical care.
“His survival is actually dependent on the application being granted,” White said.
Justice Gault also declined an order sought by Grey for the NZ Blood Service to establish a tailored donor service for the 6-month-old boy to receive blood exclusively from unvaccinated donors.
