Unless the legislature is made up entirely of physicians, attempting to cover every contingency of when to end life support would be futile. At some point, the opinions of experts have to be trusted and have to be final. Do you really want a legislature to determine whether one of your relatives lives or dies, or would you rather a physician who knows your relative make that decision with your family.
Note that the vast majority of these cases are resolved between family and physician. It's the exceptions that make the papers.
Note also that in both of the cases in Texas, palliative care is what is needed. Both medical facilities are acute care.
Fine.... Have the legislature pass a law that says the physicians have input. Have the legislature pass a law stating that the judge can play a role. Have the legislature pass a law stating that the family plays a role.
It's not just a question of who plays a role. It's also a question of why they play a role. Currently, the judge simply decides what he thinks is right, even though there is no law that authorizes him to do that. He might think that the physicians have the best input, or he might think that the family does. He might think that the spouse speaks for the family, or he might think that the parents do. They are making it up as they go along, and that is why there is such an uproar over this. If the legislature passed a law telling the courts what to do, then we would not be having this problem, except of course, if the courts simply refused to honor it.
But we aren't there yet, because the legislature won't do its job in the first place.