Brain Dead Pregnant Woman Marlise Munoz Removed from Life Support
33-year-old Marlise Muñoz was taken off of life-support earlier today. Muñoz was on life-support for two months after suffering an apparent blood clot. Her husband found her unconscious on November 26th of last year. She was immediately admitted into John Peter Smith Hospital and put on life support.
Marlise's husband Erick said that both he and his wife made it clear to each other that they would not want to be kept alive if such a situation ever arose. Both he and his wife are paramedics so they were able to make educated decisions about their health. Complicating the case further was the fact that Mrs. Muñoz was 14 weeks pregnant at the time of her admittance. Yet, the hospital refused to remove Mrs. Muñoz from life-support. A contentious battle then enveloped the North Texas hospital where she was being housed and the Muñoz family.
The two sides went to Texas State District court and argued their respective cases throughout December and January. Judge R. H. Wallace Jr. made the hard, but necessary ruling, that Mrs. Muñoz was legally dead. That declaration meant that the hospital had to follow the state's and family's wishes and remove Muñoz from their machines.
"The Muñoz and Machado families 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," Heather King and Jessica Janicek, attorneys for Erick Muñoz, said in a written statement. "May Marlise Muñoz finally rest in peace, and her family find the strength to complete what has been an unbearably long and arduous journey."
From the very beginning both Muñoz's family and John Peter Hospital wanted the best for the young woman and her unborn child. One of the reason's why JPH fought so hard to keep Muñoz hooked up was to ensure the safety of her fetus. The family said the now 22-week-old fetus was "distinctly abnormal."
"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 said in an e-mailed statement on Sunday. "From the onset, JPS has said its role was not to make nor contest law but to follow it."
Do you think Mrs. Muñoz should have been kept on life support? Let us know in the comments section below.
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