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"Pregnant woman declared brain dead but forced to continue pregnancy" - you cannot "force" a dead person to do anything.
They are forcing the family to do something against its wishes. That is wrong.
The hospital better not come back to the family for payment.
I concur. You can bet that there are opportunists waiting in the wings to see the outcome of what amounts to the State doing "medical reasearch," and write about it for medical journals. Just are there are ambulance attorneys trying to create a career out of a situation like Jahi McMath's, there are physicians and researchers who are swooping in on this one. So let the hospital either write it off or bill the people who will use it for career boost and /or profit.
There is no guarantee that a full-term infant born from a healthy, neurologically intact mother will not have brain damage. A pregnancy specific advanced directive could specify gestational maturity as a criteria, but no way could you ask mothers their preferences depending on if the baby was or was not brain damaged because most of the time there is no way to clearly determine a baby's neurological outcome while in utero.
This woman went without oxygen long enough so there is a very real possibility that the fetus is brain damaged....and that kind of circumstance could be specified.
"If I am without oxygen for any length of time and there is any chance my fetus could be brain damaged, I do not want to be put on life support for the purpose of continuing my pregnancy."
"Pregnant woman declared brain dead but forced to continue pregnancy" - you cannot "force" a dead person to do anything.
They are forcing the family to do something against its wishes. That is wrong.
The hospital better not come back to the family for payment.
And....... if the fetus survives, and the family ends up with a brain damaged child, the state of Texas should foot the bill for whatever care it needs until the day it dies.
You absolutely can if you understand life begins at conception, and is worth protecting.
If you do not understand that...well, of course you're going to think a lot differently. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you have no children. I don't know many mothers that would call a 7 1/2 month baby in utero a "fetus" and discuss its viability.
I'm shocked and saddened at the responses here on the side of death and hopelessness. It's a very disheartening narrative of the American culture today.
Technically, maybe, but is that a useful distinction? A fertilized egg is not any version of a person, is it? Not everyone can be saved, unfortunately. At some point resources should be diverted to where they will be most likely to produce the best outcome.
I guess there is no way to test the fetus for brain activity?
Just wondering if you read further into the article that states:
About half of the uninsured children would qualify for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, if they applied, according to the Annie E. Casey Foundation. Many of the parents don't know they are eligible, have not bothered to apply or the state has not finished processing their applications.
I do see a difference I am sorry...
Even though this woman was declared brain dead? She was carrying a life inside of her that she was aware of and willing to carry to term...
The science of it is of little relevance...Saline drip filled with nutrients for the baby...
while kept on life support until the baby can be safely delivered...
The comparison between the teen and this one is oranges and apples...The woman is not being kept on life support with the hopes that she will regain conscience...and resume a healthy quality life
As long as her body can continue the pregnancy (which I assume would require a functioning brain stem), then she should deliver. It's enough of a tragedy for one life to end up this way, why make it two?
You absolutely can if you understand life begins at conception, and is worth protecting.
If you do not understand that...well, of course you're going to think a lot differently. I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you have no children. I don't know many mothers that would call a 7 1/2 month baby in utero a "fetus" and discuss its viability.
I'm shocked and saddened at the responses here on the side of death and hopelessness. It's a very disheartening narrative of the American culture today.
The mother is not alive. Her body is kept going by machines. It's not ethical to keep someone in that state for an extended period of time to in essence be a human incubator. If she'd been where machines weren't available, both she and the baby would die. Is it right to keep the mother on machines? I don't think so. For a shorter time, maybe. But if she and her husband and her parents had all stated that is not what they wanted, it shouldn't be done. The mother is the primary patient.
The mother is not alive. Her body is kept going by machines. It's not ethical to keep someone in that state for an extended period of time to in essence be a human incubator. If she'd been where machines weren't available, both she and the baby would die. Is it right to keep the mother on machines? I don't think so. For a shorter time, maybe. But if she and her husband and her parents had all stated that is not what they wanted, it shouldn't be done. The mother is the primary patient.
Yes, that was exactly my thoughts when I heard about this case. Family and patients wishes should supercede anything else.
A normal pregnancy lasts forty weeks. I can't imagine the cost of keeping someone on life support that long. Even if they induce labor earlier, the costs of premature infant care. The costs of caring for a child with brain injury due to the lack of oxygen six months earlier.
Perhaps everyone who is so adamant about keeping this poor woman alive despite her wishes should start a fund to cover all these costs. Why should the family be forced to end up with an astronomical bill that could have been avoided?
This is not even addressing the emotional turmoil the family must be experiencing watching their loved one being kept artificially alive as a human incubator.
Texas is one of the states that has decided not to participate in ACA. Over a million Texas children do not have health insurance. 1.2 million Texas children still without insurance - Houston Chronicle People in Texas, children included, die all the time due to lack of decent health care.
Texas executes people on steady schedule. Eight people are on the docket to be executed by the end of May. Death Row Information
So the contention that Texas believes in protecting lives, even the lives of children, flies in the face of facts.
This appears to more of that anti-abortion, a fetus-is-a-person, stir-up-the-RW-base stuff. It has little to do with protecting the life of a potential child.
You watch. Texas' interest in protecting this child will wane considerably after birth.
The hypocracy is appalling. They ought to be ashamed of themselves.
You're preaching to the choir.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annie53
And....... if the fetus survives, and the family ends up with a brain damaged child, the state of Texas should foot the bill for whatever care it needs until the day it dies.
No, I think everyone who voted for that bill in the Lege should foot the bill. As a Texas taxpayer I'm routinely outraged by the misuse of my tax money.
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