Posted on 01/27/2014 8:10:12 AM PST by Morgana
A Texas hospital decided not to appeal a judge’s decision late Friday to allow a husband’s bid to remove his “brain dead” pregnant wife from life support, an action that would end the life of his own unborn child.
Following the decision, Marlise Muñoz, 33, was taken off machines at a Fort Worth hospital about 11:30 a.m. Sunday and her body was released to her husband, Erick Muñoz. The husband’s attorney released a statement saying the family “will now proceed with the somber task of laying Marlise Muñoz’s body to rest, and grieving over the great loss that has been suffered.” Erick Munoz’s statement made no mention of his unborn child, who has now died as a result of removing Marlise from life support.
marlisemunoz3Earlier Sunday, a statement from John Peter Smith Hospital indicated it would not appeal, despite pleas from pro-life advocates to save the life of the unborn baby, who was 22 weeks and 5 days old
“From the onset, JPS has said its role was not to make nor contest law but to follow it,” the statement read. “The hospital will follow the court order.”
Larry Thompson, a state’s attorney who argued on behalf of the hospital Friday, said the hospital, before the judge’s decision, was trying to protect the rights of the fetus as it believed Texas law instructed it to do. The hospital’s attorneys cited a section of the Texas Advance Directives Act that reads: “A person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient.”
“There is a life involved, and the life is the unborn child,” Thompson told the judge.
On Sunday afternoon, about 40 people gathered near the hospital for a prayer vigil. Operation Rescue president Troy Newman, who coordinated the prayer vigil, told LifeNews he’s saddened by what’s transpired.
“We are grieved that the JPS hospital has removed life support from Marlise Munoz and her baby. As the term “life support” implies, Marlise’s body was alive and supporting a thriving pregnancy at the time support was withdrawn,” he said. “It is despicable that dehumanizing and deceptive language was used to refer to Marlise as a “corpse” and her baby’s condition as “incompatible with life” in order to elicit public support for putting them to death.”
Newman added: “A human being does not lose their God-given human beauty or dignity just because they are disabled or incapacitated. This case just goes to show how far we have slipped into the abyss of a Culture of Death and how intolerant we have become of those who are seen as “inconvenient.” We strongly believe that the order that led to the termination of life support is in complete contradiction to Texas law that was enacted to protect pre-born babies just like the Munoz child. The courts have failed this baby, the attorneys who should have defended Texas law have failed this baby, and the hospital has failed this baby. May this tragedy serve as a wake-up call to our society, lest others wrongly fall victim to this dehumanizing utilitarian view of life and death.”
Marlise Munoz collapsed in her home last November from an apparent blood clot in her lungs when she was 14 weeks pregnant with her second child. Her husband and other family members have asked the John Peter Smith Hospital in Ft. Worth to remove Marlise from life support after they were told she was “brain dead.” Ending life support would also end her unborn baby’s life.
Erick Munoz, who said a doctor has told him his wife is brain dead, had filed a lawsuit against JPS Health Network. The judge ordered the hospital to remove life support by 5 p.m. Monday.
According to AP, Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott, through a spokesman, said the case was a “heartbreaking tragedy” and that “Texas strives to protect both families and human life, and we will continue to work toward that end.”
Texas Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat running for governor, sided with Erick Munoz’s decision to remove life support and kill is unborn baby, saying, any decision like this “should be made by Mrs. Munoz’s family, in consultation with her doctors.”
The designation of “brain death” is a controversial one and presents moral and ethical issues, especially when the life of a baby is involved. There are many cases where babies have survived after the mothers have experienced similar situations to that of Marlise Munoz. There is a very strong possibility that Marlise’s baby could survive, given a little more time.
“We feel great compassion for the family of Marlise Munoz and her pre-born baby. No one ever wants to be in their difficult and tragic situation,” said Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue. “Marlise wanted this baby, and as long as there is a chance that he or she can be saved, we support John Peter Smith Hospital in their bid to follow the law and protect this baby’s life.”
“The public has been given the erroneous impression that Marlise is a dead and decaying corpse. This assumption is completely false. Marlise’s heart continues to beat and she continues to nourish her pre-born baby. A rotting corpse cannot do that,” said Newman. “As for the baby, we have information that diagnostic tests have not been done on the baby to support allegations that there are developmental anomalies, but even if the baby does have health issues, that baby still does not deserve to be killed.”
Abortion groups like NARAL have coldly sided with Marlise’s husband in calling on the hospital to kill Marlise and her baby.
“Some people want to decide who lives and who dies based on their personal criteria. If that was allowed, none of our lives would be safe. We simply cannot murder sick or inconvenient people just because we don’t want the hassle of caring for them. That is a dangerous road that will only end up unjustly depriving vast numbers of people of their right to life, just as we have seen with the issue of abortion,” said Newman.
“But what of Lazarus?”
/obscure reference
“the baby/fetus/whatever was already not going to develop. It had brain, limb, and heart development problems.”
Doctors say stuff like that all the time. I for one have learned not to believe them till I see the baby or as they say “the fat lady sings”.
All too often I’ve read stories where women were told to abort a baby because it had “Down Syndrome” but the women chose not to only to find out the baby was normal.
I for one hope they removed the unborn baby and did an autopsy on it. I’d really like to know what it said.
It should clue all couples with DNR requests to discuss and decide on this key issue and include it in the DNR.
Very well said. In addition, when the poor soul collapsed due to a blood clot in her lungs then chances are excellent that the unborn child suffered severe brain damage during the episode and probably would not have survived.
Can a human body that has suffered severe brain damage sustain an unborn child from a nutritional standpoint? Can her body send the proper nutrients to the unborn child? Can artificial feeding of the brain-dead female suffice to ensure a healthy baby? I do not know and neither does anyone else.
It is at the very best a very difficult situation for everyone involved. No one on this thread knows how the husband is suffering at the loss of both his wife AND his child.
I do not remember the exact saying but it says something about.....”Until you walk in my shoes”.
Well actually as her husband it is admissible.
I still doubt it was his child. Looks like we’ll never know...
Of course, there are some who are disappointed that the dead woman's family wasn't compelled by the courts to conduct a macabre medical experiment.
Full statement from JPS Health Network:
“The past eight weeks have been difficult for the Muñoz family, the caregivers
and the entire Tarrant County community, which found itself involved in a sad
situation. JPS Health Network has followed what we believed were the demands of a
state statute. From the onset, JPS has said its role was not to make nor
contest law but to follow it. On Friday, a state district judge ordered the
removal of life-sustaining treatment from Marlise Muñoz. The hospital will
follow the court order.”
Both the hospital and family agreed before Wallace’s ruling that Marlise Muñoz meets
the criteria to be considered brain-dead - which means she is dead both medically
and under Texas law - and that her fetus, at about 23 weeks, could not be
born alive this early in pregnancy.
I always leave room for miracles by the power of God.
But they sure aren’t anything we ought to base our laws on.
Yea, you accuse the husband of murder. You are despicable.
I’m despicable? He’s the one who was in such a hurry to “pull the plug” on his wife and unborn child.
Even if he had noting to do with her being hurt he did in the end kill his wife and unborn child.
My problem with the article is that it constantly uses “scare quotes” around the term “brain-dead” and others, as if there is scientific question as to whether that was her condition.
The Operation Rescue guy’s comments are pretty much over the top. This is a very different case from Terri Schiavo’s, and IMO it certainly does not set a new low in our cultural attitude to death. His claims that this was a “thriving pregnancy” don’t appear to be supported by anything other than speculation. The little I know about such medical conditions makes it pretty darn unlikely to be an accurate statement.
I would have no objection to a husband attempting to keep his wife’s body functioning long enough for their baby to be born, but I don’t think a family or society has any obligation to do so once the mother has actually died.
It’s sad, but it’s not killing.
What are you back pedaling on the murder charge?
Murder is murder. God’s law does not change. I don’t care what lib Federal Judge says. He got away with it here but he will stand before God one day and see his wife and unborn child.
Well, no. The family and the state both agreed prior to the court hearing that she was brain-dead, which under TX law means she was all dead, not just mostly dead.
In such a situation the child will continue to build her/his own spacesuit for life in the air world. Did the child continue to grow from week 13 to the week 22? What was the known condition of the baby at 14 weeks? These questions need answering before concluding motivations and motives. We The People are so lied to nowadays that media can herd US bout on nearly any issue they are told to manipulate.
I'm really wondering why his wife got "hurt" to begin with if you understand what I'm talking about.
In the first place. Do you want to withdraw complaint against the husband for causing her brain death?
Really Sherman it would have killed this man to keep his wife on life support until the baby was due? Really?
I have read what the doctors said about the baby but I’m sorry I will not believe what they say till I see the baby. So many of them either are just wrong or lied in the past. They will say a baby has Down Syndrome to get a woman to have an abortion, but the woman chooses life and the baby is normal!
So I’m sorry I want to see this baby born till I make judgements on anything. Even if this baby had been still born at least we tried. It would have been worth it. Life is always worth it.
Do you know how far developed a human brain is at 13 weeks? Do you know how long the brain continues to grow and organize during development? Your assertion assumes things which are not assumable.
One article I saw from 12/24 quoted the husband as not knowing the health of the unborn child.
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