Texas hospital to take pregnant, brain-dead woman off ventilator (Update: It's been done)

CNN ^ | January 26, 2014 | Matt Smith and Jason Morris

[Zakeet]

A Texas hospital has agreed to remove a pregnant and brain-dead woman from a ventilator, after a wrenching court fight about who is alive, who is dead and how the presence of a fetus changes the equation.

Sunday's announcement came two days after a judge in Fort Worth ordered John Peter Smith Hospital to remove any artificial means of life support from Marlise Munoz, as her family had asked. The hospital had said it was following a state law that requires hospitals to maintain life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient.

[Snip]

[Breaking news update, 1:50 p.m. ET]

The brain-dead and pregnant Texas woman at the center of a wrenching court battle has been removed from ventilators, lawyers for her family said Sunday.

[Zakeet]

It is finished.

[null and void]

Insha’allah...

[Mears]

RIP

[GeronL]

if she starts breathing on her own will they starve her or shoot her?

[NoKoolAidforMe]

Terri Schiavo part 2

[laweeks]

They should removed the baby and try to keep the baby alive. Babies have survived well before this amount of weeks . . . but it take time and medical concern.

Terry Schiavo, Terry Schiavo II, and little Terry Schiavo III

Isn’t this a great country?

[null and void]

Texas? Shoot, I’d say...

[andyk]

It’s disgusting.

[erkelly]

Again, confirmation we live in a culture of death. How long before God intervenes? I thought last night before I went to sleep about the scripture that says “If my people, who are called by my name, will turn away from their sins and repent, then I will heal their land.” We can’t do anything it seems right now, about these wicked judges, this wicked administration, this wicked congress; but God can. And all it is going to do is for each and every one of us, ordinary citizens, to turn back to God, the God of our forefathers, Christians and Jews, and He will intervene on our half. Last night, I decided that what I was going to do, aggressively, instead of my usual lackluster take the easy way out of whatever problem I am dealing with, but instead at every decision point, ask myself what is the right thing to do in God’s eyes, and I would like to challenge each and every one of you to do the same. We, the people, have a means at our disposal, and that is to turn to God, to bring back a godly govt, and the wicked in charge will not be able to stand against this. While, of course, we should continue the political to fight this wickedness, this culture of death, all we really need to do is live in a righteous way, so that God will help us, as He has promised to do. If my post reasonates with you, then today, turn back to God in all of your ways, pray for our country, and talk to your friends and family about doing the same. We CAN, the citizens of this country, end all of these doings with Godly lives, prayer, and faith.

[Sarah Barracuda]

I can understand the woman being brain dead and all, but how can the family allow the baby to be killed..that baby is this woman’s legacy, and instead of keeping her alive for the baby’s sake til he or she is born they instead let her die..its despicable..and what just happened to that child is abortion plain and simple..at least let the baby be born and see if he could have survived in this world, now we will never know

[GeronL]

I wonder if that would be newsworthy?

[null and void]

Not if a cop does it...

[GeronL]

Maybe if they put a puppy in her lap...

[mlizzy]

The article states the baby was not viable. When did this information come out (I hadn't heard it before), and what exactly do they mean by this? I didn't really trust the husband when this news first came out. What kind of man is so quick to unplug his wife ESPECIALLY when she is carrying their own child. It was his child, was it not?

[lonestar]

One report was the baby is so malformed its sex couldn’t be determined. True or not...????

[CyberAnt]

And .. in Heaven, the child is whole and happy and WITH HIS MOTHER.

Nobody seems to get that part.

[MHGinTN]

Don’t ya just love the way some will try to deceive us with ‘the baby is not viable at 23 weeks’, as if ‘baby’ is not a term of aliveness and ‘not viable’ means dead thing? It is downright demonic in brilliance, this death-cult mantra. Last I checked, dead things do not grow/gestate.

[Drango]

Prayers for all involved.

[Tennessee Nana]

the baby was 23 weeks along..

she could have lived...

probably hooked up to tubes for a few weeks but eventually on her own..

[Politicalkiddo]

I’m not sure what gave you the impression that this woman is in heaven. Not saying that she wasn’t a Christian, but to say she’s in heaven without any indication otherwise is jumping the gun a little. If she wasn’t a believer, this makes the situation all the more tragic.