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#46: Brain Dead Pregnant Woman on Life Support – What Would You Do?

An interesting story was re-reported by UPI that made me want to stand up and clap for the state of Texas.  In Texas a hearing will be held to determine whether to remove a pregnant woman,  Marlise Munoz from life support.    Marlise has been determined to be brain dead.  Apparently the family of Marlise decided that they wanted to remove her from respirators and whatever remaining life support equipment remained, which would effectively kill the baby inside of her.

The 33 year old Munoz has been in the hospital since November 2013 and was stricken with a pulmonary embolism.  Munoz was 14 weeks pregnant at that time.

So when the family decided they want to end the life of the pregnant woman the hospital refused to remove Munoz from life support.  Texas has a law which requires a pregnant woman to remain on life support until the fetus is viable which is usually between 24 and 26 weeks.

Photo From Foxnews.com
Photo From Foxnews.com

According to the article Munoz entered her 22nd week of pregnancy on January 20, 2014.

Here is the kicker.  Her husband, Erik Munoz and her family is suing the hospitial and are challenging the constitutionality of the law.

I was shocked to hear that her husband was part of the lawsuit as to whether his wife should be taken off life support which would end the life of his unborn child.  I naturally couldn’t help but put myself in the shoes of the husband.

But then I found another article covering the story which shed more light on the topic.

The Huffington Post shared more insight as to why the husband, Erick Munoz wasn’t interested in keeping his wife on life support despite her carrying their child.

To begin with, the husband indicated that his wife specifically told him not to keep her on life support should she ever fall into that type of condition (assuming she meant brain dead).

Two women were quoted  in the statement below but were not identified in the Huffington Post article.

“Even at this early stage, the lower extremities are deformed to the extent that the gender cannot be determined,” King and Janicek said, also noting the fetus has fluid building up inside the skull and possibly has a heart problem.

With that being said if the baby was born I can only assume it may have some difficulties out of the womb especially being born prematurely.  But why not give that life a chance?

Then today, Saturday, January 25, 2014 I read the final chapter in the story that ends the debate for both the mother and the unborn child.  Judge R. H. Wallace Jr. issued a ruling on Friday, January 24, 2014 to have Marlise Munoz removed from life support.

My Thoughts on This Story

I didn’t write about this because I wanted to insight some controversy about abortion or the rights of women or the rights of families.  This story caught my eye because it got me thinking about what I thought was the right thing to do and what I would have done had I been the husband involved.

And here is what I would have done.

While respecting my wife’s wishes of being taken off life support I would want to protect my unborn child.  I would have to assume that my wife would want to protect our child as well regardless of her wishes to be removed from life support.

In light of possible birth defects I would want to give my child a chance at life.  God has given us the knowledge to help children survive birth even if it is prematurely and even with birth defects.  I personally would want to put the fate of my unborn child in God’s hands.  Had my child been taken out of the womb at 25 weeks and not survived then my conscious would have been clear that we (me and the doctors) did what we could to save the child.  I would just want to give my child the chance.

What would you do if your wife was brain dead and pregnant with your child?

Assume your wife has been determined to be brain dead while carrying your unborn child.  Would you give your child a chance regardless of the condition of the baby within the womb?

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