Texas Court Orders Hospital to Unplug Pregnant Woman

A pregnant woman in Texas was taken off life support Sunday after a judge in Fort Worth ordered the hospital to do so.

Marlise Munoz was 14 weeks pregnant with her second child when her husband found her unconscious Nov. 26. She was pronounced brain dead but officials at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth said they were required by state law to maintain life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient. Texas is one of two dozen states that prohibits doctors from cutting off life support from pregnant patients.

Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue, condemns the decision to remove Munoz’s life support.

“We are grieved that the JPS hospital has removed life support from Marlise Munoz and her baby,” he said. “As the term life support implies, Marlise’s body was alive and supporting a thriving pregnancy at the time support was withdrawn.”

The hospital acknowledged Friday that the 33-year-old woman has been brain dead since Nov. 28 and her baby was not viable. Her husband, Erick Munoz, said he barely recognized his wife, saying her usual scent has been replaced by the “smell of death” and her once lively eyes have become “soulless,” CNN reports.

“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 continued.

“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.’ “

Though Marlise Munoz did not leave any written directives regarding end-of-life care, her husband and family insist that she told them she didn’t want machines to keep her alive. Erick Munoz asked the court to force the hospital to remove her from the machines two weeks ago.

“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,” Newman said. “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.”

Judge R.H. Wallace Jr. on Friday ordered the hospital to remove Munoz from the machines by 5 p.m. Monday.

“The death of Baby Munoz represents a colossal failure on so many levels,” added Mark Harrington, executive director for Created Equal. “The Attorney General of Texas Greg Abbot failed her. The hospital failed her. Finally, by usurping the will of the people of Texas, the courts failed her.

“If only those one of those in position to stop this execution of baby Munoz would have stepped up to the plate and done the right thing she would have been born alive in the next few weeks. Baby Munoz was a human being who deserved the same legal protections of born people. The truth is baby Munoz was executed by judicial tyranny.”