Court Weighs Pregnant Woman’s Fate

In the politically charged case that has gripped the nation, a Texas court will decide whether a pregnant woman—whose family claims she is brain dead—should be taken off of life support. Marlise Munoz, 33, was found unconscious in November, and has been kept on life support despite her family’s objections. The hospital refused, saying they are obeying a Texas law which says "you cannot withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient." Munoz’s husband and family are arguing that as she is brain dead, she is not alive, and therefore not a patient. In addition, the family says the baby “is distinctly abnormal” and suffering from hydrocephalus and deformed to the point that the gender cannot be determined. According to her husband, the hospital’s actions equate "to nothing more than the cruel and obscene mutilation of a deceased body against the expressed will of the deceased and her family."