Because they want the child to be born possibly brain-damaged (denied oxygen) and mother-less - then deny it food stamps.

The indignity of being a woman in Texas is about life and death (Click on this heading to read more)

Rss@dailykos.com (egberto Willies)

Saturday, January 11, 2014, 5:23 pm

Marlise and Erick Munoz, last year, with their first born son

 

Erick Muñoz, a firefighter-paramedic, woke up to find his pregnant wife, Marlise Machado Muñoz, unconscious on the floor in his kitchen. She was 14 weeks pregnant at the time. Marlise was also a paramedic. Erick said that both he and his wife were exposed to this situation in their professional lives. They both opposed life-sustaining efforts if either were declared brain dead.

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Marlise's heart stopped several times. Doctors suspect she had a pulmonary embolism. When Erick found out she was brain dead he wanted her wishes fulfilled. John Peter Smith Hospital said they could not take her off of life support because of the 1999 Texas Advance Directives Act.

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Medical ethicists disagree whether the law applies to this case or not. The hospital is steadfast in their decision. They said there are no gray areas.

By 2005, Texas and 17 other states had enacted laws that require keeping a brain-dead pregnant woman alive against the family’s wishes, or even in opposition to the woman’s living will, until a viable baby can be delivered, usually after 24 weeks, according to an article in the Vermont Law Review.