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Pregnant woman kept alive against family's wishes in Texas
Linda Carroll NBC News
12/24/13

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The last time Erick Munoz saw his pregnant wife conscious, she had gotten up before 2 a.m. to give their son a bottle.

When Marlise didn’t return to bed and with the boy still crying, Erick went in search of her. He found her unresponsive on the kitchen floor, her face blue from lack of oxygen. A short time later, doctors declared her brain dead at a Fort Worth hospital.


Erick and Marlise Munoz hold their son Mateo. (Courtesy Kathy Chruscielski/KC Studios)

Marlise Munoz had been clear about her wishes never to be hooked up to life-support machines if she were fatally injured. But when the unthinkable happened to the 33-year-old mom, doctors told her family that they could not respect her wishes. Because she was 14 weeks pregnant, they would have to follow a Texas statute making it illegal to disconnect life support from a pregnant woman.

“The doctors told us that even if a pregnant woman has a DNR or a living will, the law supersedes that,” Munoz’s mom, Lynne Machado, told NBC News. “So any pregnant woman must be kept alive with life support because of the fetus. We had never heard of this and we wanted to get the information out there. No family should have to go through this. It’s been pure hell.”

Although doctors have been sympathetic to the family’s plight, they feel they have no other choice.

“We follow the state law on this," said J.R. Labbe, vice president of communication and community affairs for JPS Health Network. "We cannot withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient."

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More: http://www.nbcnews.com/health/pregnant-woman-kept-alive-against-familys-wishes-texas-2D11792149