Many U.S. laws have been influenced by the life and experience of ordinary people. One of these is Marlise Munoz.
Marlise was 33 years old and married to Erick. Both already had a daughter and were expecting their second child when a tragedy happened. On November 26, 2013, Erick found Marlise, 14 weeks pregnant, in the home they shared in Texas, unconscious. No one knew how long she had been in such condition. When she was brought to John Peter Smith Hospital, she was diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and was unresponsive. Two days later, according to the family's lawyer, she was brain dead.
As a paramedic, Marlise was very much aware of the consequences of brain death and had already expressed to her husband that if she would find herself in such situation, she'd not be placed in life support, a wish not immediately honored by the hospital and her doctors.
Based on the existing Texas law, the health care facility needs to perform all life-saving measures if the patient is pregnant. The law also supersedes any directive provided by the patient.
The only way for the family to honor her wish was to take the matter into state court. Despite being clinically and legally dead, Marlise remained on life support for around 2 months more. Their family especially her husband had to appear in court and go through the ordeal including describing the quality of the fetus, who, the lawyers insisted, was severely deformed they could hardly determine the gender, although the father named her Nicole.
By January 24, 2014, a state judge ruled in favor of the family, compelling the hospital to remove life support as the law no longer applies to Marlise, who the court acknowledged as already dead.
Recently, a lawmaker in the state has proposed a bill that provides more decision control on pregnant women, especially with regard to end of life. Speaking on Thursday, March 12, Erick mentioned that the bill may help families and health care providers meet and discuss the next course of action, taking into consideration any advance directive from the patient.
