Good Intentions...

You know those things “the road to Hell” are paved with…good intentions and (as my current Metro-Detroit existence has convinced me) SNOW.  I did however just come in from shoveling my driveway for the 100^th time since Christmas…so there is a chance that personal bias may be entering in on that second one…

A lighthearted intro, yes, but I want to cover a very heavy topic in this article.  That topic is the sad case of Marlise Munoz and her unborn baby.  As many or all of my readers will know, I am entirely and unabashedly Pro-life.  I am a strong Catholic and believe that life is precious at any stage, from conception to natural death.  To be “Pro-life,” in a Catholic sense, does not mean that you are “Anti-death.”  Life has a natural course: new life is born and people die…it is the inevitable flow of the universe.

Marlise Munoz was a young wife and mother; in November of last year her husband found her unconscious on their kitchen floor.  Both Marlise and her husband, Erick, were paramedics; they were not strangers to the horrors of a medical emergency and end of life treatment.  They had discussed their wishes with one another, and were prepared to make difficult decisions if necessary.

On that November day, Marlise was rushed to the hospital and a few days later was pronounced brain dead.  Her husband knew her wishes and requested that she be removed from life support.  The hospital refused because Marlise was 14 weeks pregnant.  In Texas, the state where this story takes place, there is a law that prohibits the removal of life support if the woman is pregnant.

This law is well intentioned, it is meant, I assume, to remind the medical staff that they have two lives to consider in medical decisions regarding pregnant women.  Though, as so often is the case, the “good intentions” of this law have become the flat stones on which this poor man must tread along his hellish journey. 

The issue here is that there are two lives, and from a medical perspective two patients.  In my opinion, there are certainly two lives, but only one patient.  The two lives are sustained by the same body and both would have suffered from the event in November.  The baby is now at 22 weeks gestation and reports are that he/she is severely abnormal.  Marlise was without oxygen for an extended period of time, enough to cause her full brain death, therefore it is logical to assume that the baby has extensive, possibly fatal damage as well.

This child and mother were not/are not unloved.  To watch an interview with Marlise’s husband is to see the agony in every look and hear his sorrow with every word.  This is a man who has just lost the love of his life, he needs to be able to find closure on this situation and figure out how he will proceed with raising his young son.  Erick Munoz is in an awful position and has been forced to make a seemingly impossible decision.  He knows and has attempted to act on his wife’s wishes, but after what had to be the most painful decision of his life, he finds out that the hospital will not respect his decision.

This week a judge ruled that the life support law does not apply to the Munoz’s case because the law applies to a living woman and Marlise is already dead.  The judge has given the hospital until 5pm on Monday January 27^th to remove life support.  Erick Munoz “won,” if there can be victory in this case, but I am sure he is not celebrating, his only prize is the ability to bury his wife and grieve his loss, something he should have been able to do without court involvement.

Our laws are not prepared to handle nuance, this case is complicated and must be considered carefully and fully.  Bioethics is not all case studies and legal analysis; it is often critical thought, a gut feeling, and an empathetic connection with the family.  If their unborn child had a reasonable chance of survival, my guess is that Erick Munoz, a loving father and husband, would want to give that child his/her best chance.  The truth is, that child has little chance of survival and Erick has decided that it is more crucial at this point for him and his family to have closure on this situation, so they can try to move on from it.  My heart breaks for him and I pray peace and strength for him, his in-laws, and his son.

When speaking of life we must be prepared for and accept death when it comes, Marlise Munoz should have the right not to be held as an incubator for her unborn child, and her husband should have the right to make this decision for his wife when she is unable to make it for herself.  Put yourself in his place, feel a tiny fraction of his pain, and perhaps you will see that he has carried himself with dignity in an impossible situation.  He deserves our compassion, love, and sincerest wishes that he find peace on the long road ahead.