Marlise Muñoz to be removed from life support

A judge has ruled that pregnant brain dead woman Marlise Muñoz must be taken off life support by Monday.

The ruling comes after weeks of contention between the family, who wanted to let her die, and the Texas hospital where she was being held that claimed state law prevented taking Muñoz off life support while she was pregnant.

Muñoz has been on a ventilator since November 26, when she was brought in to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth after collapsing at home. She was experiencing cardiac arrest and respiratory failure, and two days later, despite life-saving measures, meet the criteria for brain death, the hospital acknowledged for the first time in court Friday.

The hospital refused to take Muñoz off life support because she was, at the time, 14 weeks pregnant. State law, according to the hospital, prohibited disconnecting her from life support machines, through a stipulation which states, "a person may not withdraw or withhold life-sustaining treatment under this subchapter from a pregnant patient."

Muñoz and her husband, Erick, are both paramedics, and despite there being no written directive, Erick Muñoz said they had specifically discussed this situation and she had said she would not have wanted to be kept on a ventilator.

Erick Muñoz sued the hospital last week, writing that the hospital had informed him his wife had "lost all activity in her brain stem, and was for all purposes brain dead" and said he saw "brain dead" in her chart.

At Friday's hearing, the hospital acknowledged the fetus was "not viable," confirming a statement from Erick Muñoz's suit that said the fetus was "distinctly abnormal," with heart problems, deformed lower extremities and hydrocephalus, known as water on the brain.

The hospital has until 5 p.m. Monday to disconnect Muñoz from life support.

[KERA]