Some Hospitals Think They Should Have Power Over You and Your Family: Hospital Ordered By Judge To Remove Life Support - Is STILL 'Deciding' If It Will

Not satisfied with "just" playing God, some doctors and hospitals want to play "Judge
jury" too.  Will your doctor and hospital obey your wishes when the time comes? -
Don't bet your life on it. ('Doctor Doctor Joke 25'. Illustration by Alan O'Rourke)

By Natalie DiBlasio
A spokeswoman for a Texas hospital won't say whether it will follow a judge's order to take a pregnant brain-dead woman off of life support.

Marlise Munoz, 33, who is believed to be about 22 weeks pregnant, "is deceased" and therefore not subject to a state law that prohibits withdrawal of treatment from a pregnant person, Judge R.H. Wallace ruled on Friday afternoon. The judge said the Fort Worth hospital had until Monday at 5 p.m. to remove Munoz from life support.

Hospital spokeswoman J.R. Labbe said that John Peter Smith Hospital wouldn't announce a decision on whether to appeal the ruling on Saturday.

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