Charlie Gard's parents furious that government-appointed lawyer is tied to pro-euthanasia group

Connie Yates and Chris Gard, parents of 11-month-old Charlie Gard, were furious after learning that the lawyer appointed by the British government to represent their son in court heads a charity that supports euthanasia.

Victoria Butler-Cole, who speaks on behalf of the sick baby in court, is the chairman of Compassion in Dying, a sister organization to Dignity in Dying, which is campaigning to make assisted dying legal in the U.K.

According to The Telegraph, the two charities share the same chief executive, and trustees can only sit on one of the charities if they support the aims of the other.

Butler-Cole was appointed to represent Charlie by the publicly-funded state body Cafcass, which is supposed to act in the best interests of children in court cases.

Yates and Gard believe that they should speak for their son in court hearings, and they do not believe that the baby should have a guardian representing him in court.

The parents are seeking to take Charlie, who suffers from a rare genetic disease, to the U.S. for an experimental treatment. But Great Ormond Street Hospital, where Charlie is being treated, has sought to switch off the baby's life support and has refused to let the parents transfer the baby to another hospital.

"The family find it astonishing that the quango that appointed the barrister to act in the interests of Charlie Gard is the chairman of Compassion in Dying, the sister body of Dignity in Dying, formerly known as the Voluntary Euthanasia Society. The implication is obvious. It looks like a profound conflict of interest," a source close to the parents told The Telegraph.

Compassion in Dying maintained that there is no conflict of interest between Butler-Cole's representation of Charlie's guardian in court and her view that adults with full mental capacity should be allowed to plan their own death.

"There are clear differences between this case, the work of Dignity in Dying and the work of Compassion in Dying. The Charlie Gard case is about making decisions in the best interests of a seriously ill child," a spokesman for the charity stated.

In April, the High Court ruled that Charlie should be allowed to "die with dignity." The decision was backed by the Court of Appeal, Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights, but Great Ormond Street referred the case back to the High Court after Dr. Michio Hirano, an American neurologist, claimed that there is a ground-breaking therapy that could help the baby.

On Monday, Hirano flew to London to examine Charlie and examine his brain scans. He spent over five hours locked in discussions with Great Ormond Street Hospital staff before he flew back to the U.S. on Tuesday night.