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I think they should keep her alive for the sake of the baby and giving birthbto a healthy baby. After the baby is born, then they can impose euthanasia and take the woman off of life support.
The baby is severely deformed and probably brain injured when the mother stopped breathing.
I think they should keep her alive for the sake of the baby and giving birthbto a healthy baby. After the baby is born, then they can impose euthanasia and take the woman off of life support.
They cannot "keep her alive". Without a functioning brain she is dead. Her husband did not want to continue artificial breathing and circulation because he was concerned that the baby had been damaged by lack of oxygen. He has subsequently been proved correct. In other circumstances where this has been done to a dead pregnant woman, there have been some healthy babies born but it is not always successful and when it is, the pregnancy was more advanced when the attempt was made.
Since brain death is death, removing the ventilator is not "euthanasia". A dead person cannot be on "life support".
Next of kin may give consent for organ donation from an adult.
If the deceased person has signed an organ donor card, consent of next of kin is not required (although many organ donation services would honor the family's desire not to donate.)
If the deceased person's wishes are not known, the family will be asked to authorize donation.
"Authorization for Donations
When the decedent’s status is unclear or unknown, authorizations from family/next of kin for organ and/or tissue donations may occur in writing or by telephone. Telephone consent requires a subsequent confirmation by telegram or fax (receiver of fax must have a witness’ signature). A tape recorded
conversation is also sufficient as confirmation (no witness required). Any document of authorization (e.g., fax, letter, or telegram) should be attached to the consent form.
Recovering Organs and Tissues
Organ donations can be obtained only from patients who have been pronounced brain dead by the physician. All donations of organs and tissues from decedents pronounced brain dead are coordinated by STA. To safeguard the viability of the organ/tissue, STA will ensure that donations are retrieved in a timely manner that is suitable for the family."
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That is the standard protocol.
This thread was spun off from a thread about Jahi McMath, the brain dead girl in CA. The issues are intertwined. The problem is how to prevent cases similar to these two from happening in the future.
When pregnancy complicates brain death, the decision to employ heroic measures to save the fetus should be in the hands of the family, not the legal system.
With regard to brain death in general, the medical staff and hospital should not be held hostage by a deluded family member who expects someone who is brain dead to recover.
Thanks for the useful info on organ donation. A tiny point of clarification--in the event of brain death, it is the legal system that puts the decision in the hands of family, as legal guardians for the patient.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MelismaticEchoes
I think they should keep her alive for the sake of the baby and giving birthbto a healthy baby. After the baby is born, then they can impose euthanasia and take the woman off of life support.
I don't think that choice is yours--it belongs to the woman's husband as her legal guardian. This is also not "imposing euthanasia," but rather declining the medical treatment that is keeping the woman's body alive in spite of her lack of brain activity. If you are suggesting that the hospital or the State should override the husband's directive to terminate medical treatment, then you are suggesting that we as individuals do not have the right to decline medical treatment. That is a far-reaching change in our legal and health care systems, and you might find that the consequences are much more than you bargained for.
It may be that health care professionals and governments make more rational decisions about our individual medical care than we do, but there is a clear danger--especially when you put those decisions in the hands of governments.
This is only a 14 week old fetus, and it has profound defects.
I could see keeping a mother alive for a few weeks in order to deliver a healthy child, but this whole situation was a no brainer.
Thanks for the useful info on organ donation. A tiny point of clarification--in the event of brain death, it is the legal system that puts the decision in the hands of family, as legal guardians for the patient.
I don't think that choice is yours--it belongs to the woman's husband as her legal guardian. This is also not "imposing euthanasia," but rather declining the medical treatment that is keeping the woman's body alive in spite of her lack of brain activity. If you are suggesting that the hospital or the State should override the husband's directive to terminate medical treatment, then you are suggesting that we as individuals do not have the right to decline medical treatment. That is a far-reaching change in our legal and health care systems, and you might find that the consequences are much more than you bargained for.
It may be that health care professionals and governments make more rational decisions about our individual medical care than we do, but there is a clear danger--especially when you put those decisions in the hands of governments.
Thank you. I was responding to a previous poster who believes that a family member cannot authorize donation of organs from an adult. You are cofirming that it is a policy with legal grounding.
This is only a 14 week old fetus, and it has profound defects.
I could see keeping a mother alive for a few weeks in order to deliver a healthy child, but this whole situation was a no brainer.
I'm not up on the law but you can imagine if a lady was at 3-4 weeks. Makes no sense to maintain a dead body as an incubator.
Usually Texas is a very common sense state. I'm sure this will be corrected.
Let's take this on a little more. Suppose someone has a healthy teen age girl that has been declared dead. Should the family or hospital have the right to use that body as an incubator for another child? . We have the technical know-how to do that now.
It's all over now. The lady was disconnected from life support this morning.
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