A Family Welcomed Their Baby Despite Her Severe Medical Problems. Then Doctors and a Judge Ruled She Must Die

A medical center in Fort Worth can take Tinslee Lewis off life support against her family's wishes, a judge ruled Thursday.

By Published on January 2, 2020

A judge ruled Thursday that an 11-month-old baby can be taken off life support, though the child’s family does not want the baby to die.

Tinslee Lewis was born in February 2019 with severe medical problems and has been on life support in Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth since her birth, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram reports. But a judge ruled Thursday that the medical center can take the baby off life support against her family’s wishes.

The family lawyer says the family plans to appeal the decision and is filing an emergency motion to stay, according to the Star-Telegram. This would prevent the hospital from removing Tinslee’s life support if the motion to stay is granted. Cook Children’s Medical Center has agreed to keep the baby on life support for the next seven days, whether or not the requested stay is granted.

“I am heartbroken over today’s decision because the judge basically said Tinslee’s life is NOT worth living,” the child’s mother, Trinity Lewis, said in a statement shared by Texas Right to Life. “I feel frustrated because anyone in that courtroom would want more time just like I do if Tinslee were their baby. I hope that we can keep fighting through an appeal to protect Tinslee. She deserves the right to live. Please keep praying for Tinslee and thank you for supporting us during this difficult time.”

Officials at the hospital say that the baby is in pain and that there is nothing to be done for her, but the family disagrees. The baby suffers from a rare heart defect called Ebstein anomaly as well as chronic lung disease, and severe chronic pulmonary hypertension. She has gone through several complicated surgeries.

Please Support The Stream: Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.
 

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott weighed in on the Lewis’ family’s situation Thursday in a joint statement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, calling Tinslee’s situation “complex and heartbreaking,” and promising to “continue to support” the family’s fight.

“The Attorney General’s office is involved in the ongoing litigation, fighting to see that due process and the right to life are fully respected by Texas law,” the statement says. “The Attorney General’s office will be supporting an appeal of this case to the Second Court of Appeals.”

“The State of Texas is fully prepared to continue its support of Ms. Lewis in the Supreme Court if necessary,” Abbott and Paxton add. “We are working diligently to do all we can to ensure that Tinslee and her family are provided the care and support that they seek.”

The baby’s fate has caused tension among pro-life groups in Texas as different groups put forth conflicting statements on the matter.

“We praise God for this extension of time, which grants Tinslee more than a month of life after the hospital was initially set to pull the plug on the baby on November 10,” said the Texas Right to Life, a group which has provided legal help to the Lewis family, in a statement.

But the pro-life group Texas Alliance for Life sad that though they strongly sympathize with the baby and her family, they support doctors having the ability to decide to end treatment no longer beneficial to the patient – per the 1999 Texas Advance Directives Act, signed into law by former Republican Texas Gov. George W. Bush.

“This law balances the family’s autonomy regarding end-of-life medical decisions with a doctor’s conscience rights to not order medically inappropriate interventions that would cause unnecessary suffering without the hope of improving their patient’s condition,” the organization said in a statement, the Star-Telegram reports.

Cook Children’s Medical Center declined to comment to the Daily Caller News Foundation.

 
 
Copyright 2020 The Daily Caller News Foundation
 

Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact [email protected].

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Like the article? Share it with your friends! And use our social media pages to join or start the conversation! Find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, MeWe and Gab.

Inspiration
Military Photo of the Day: Stealth Bomber Fuel
Tom Sileo
More from The Stream
Connect with Us