Life Support for the Pregnant Dead Woman Dilemma: When Fear Overrides Wisdom

Last updated on: January 23, 2014 at 12:23 pm by Christy Thomas

Life Support for the Pregnant Dead Woman Dilemma: When Fear Overrides Wisdom 2014-01-23T12:23:15-05:00 Christy Thomas

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Erick and Marlise Munoz, photo from the New York Daily News,

I’ve been thinking a lot about this tragic situation. Despite her own express wishes, along with those of her husband and her parents, this woman, who is actually dead, is being artificially breathed for, fed, eliminated for, etc. by the medical personal at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth. Administrators there (shall we read, “attorneys?” say they can’t legally disconnect her until they can safely deliver a baby. She was 14 weeks pregnant when she died

I am not the only one wondering about the viability of this fetus who was deprived of oxygen for an extended period of time and whose incubator (i.e., dead mother’s body) is being supported by massive interventions of drugs, none of which would ever be given to a pregnant patient under anything approaching normal circumstances.

Now, a sonogram reveals this about the fetus (warning: this is difficult to read about):

[T]he fetus is distinctly abnormal,” said Muñoz family attorneys Heather King and Jessica Janicek in the statement. “Even at this early stage, the lower extremities are deformed to the extent that the gender cannot be determined.”

The attorneys say the fetus has hydrocephalus (water on the brain), and a possible heart problem, though details can’t be determined “due to the immobile nature of Mrs. Muñoz’s deceased body.”

I doubt that that there is a single member of the medical profession caring for the the slowly decaying incubator-body of this dead woman who thinks this is a good idea. They are smarter than that–and know when it is time to say, “no more.”

But they don’t get to make this call: it is being made by attorneys, litigators, administrators, legislatures and eventually a court of some sort. And every decision is being driven by fear. Fear of lawsuits, fear of the rabid, common-sense-left-behind right-to-lifers who cannot or will not recognize that life has limitations and death is the great inevitability for all of us. Fear that this apparently lock-step voting bloc will remove people from offices and jobs if they act with wisdom, honor and compassion here.

Please note here: I am not “pro-abortion.” Life needs to be honored–but this is not life. This is close to necromancy, and it’s just wrong.

On Martin Luther King Day, I read this essay and it spoke powerfully to me. I encourage you to read the whole thing, but if you don’t, the gist is this: Martin Luther King’s most powerful contribution to the oppressed and mal-treated black community was to teach them to face their fears and stop cowering to those in power. Real freedom startd here–not with external laws that say we are free, but with an internal sense that we have dignity, and can face the worst if we will hold onto that.

This woman, Mrs. Marlise Muñoz, deserve to have her death honored and her remains respected, not used as a bizarre medical experiment dictated by lawmakers.

But fear will keep her there, and we will all pay for it.

And speaking of paying for this, I assume, this family is, against their wishes, being billed for every molecule of oxygen pumped into those dead lungs and every latex glove that touches the tubes filling and draining this poor woman’s body. The husband will be in impossible debt for the rest of his life, with his insurance long since maxed-out, by the decisions of those who are acting in direct opposition to their wishes. He will probably be hounded to pay those bills by the same attorneys who are saying,”Sorry. Can’t help you.”

And I ask, “God, what is Your will here?” The tragedy of a young woman, mother, wife, professional who served society as a paramedic, dying so young and suddenly stuns us. Does God, in a world that is holy, compassionate, just and full of mercy, demand that this baby be born for the sake of some principle of inviolate life when life has already been taken? I’m not suggesting some easy, clear answer here. I am saying that I believe that a decision made about this situation in an atmosphere free from fear would have looked very different.

compassion

wisdom

Erick and Marlise Munoz

pregnant brain-dead woman

right-to-life

Texas legislature

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