Texas Scorecard: After hard-fought legal battles to save baby Tinslee Lewis from death by withdrawal of life-saving hospital care, the 3-year-old is home with her family.
A Brief History
When a hospital decides to use Texas’ “10-day rule,” basic life-sustaining care is halted following a 10-day countdown. Tinslee was 9 months old when Cook Children’s Hospital invoked the 10-day rule, with vague “quality of life” arguments for a child with a congenital heart problem. A legal race ensued to save Tinslee’s life.
Texas Right to Life’s explanation of the 10-day rule states:
Under the reign of the anti-Life 10-Day-Law, enacted in 1999, a partial hospital committee has the power to decide to withdraw treatment for any reason, including the subjective anti-life assessment of “quality of life.” The hospital can then remove treatment, even life-sustaining treatment (ventilator, dialysis, etc.), and the patient cannot appeal the decision. Even if the patient is conscious, coherent, and actively requesting the continuation of life-sustaining treatment, the 10-Day-Law gives the hospital the power to overrule the patient’s wishes.
Hospitals are not required to hear families’ protests, and the only options available are to find another facility to accept an emergency transfer or to begin legal proceedings.
In 2019, Judge Alex Kim, a state district court judge in Tarrant County, approved a temporary restraining order Texas Right to Life filed that November. The order stopped the hospital from removing Tinslee’s care on the 10th day.
MORE HERE
I think I remember when hospitals were there to save lives?
I wonder who paid for this?
My wife and were given the opportunity to care for two terminally ill grandchildren in our home.
Jarren spent 6 months in St. Louis Children’s Hospital, who did everything possible to save his life and to determine his illness. He was diagnosed with Spinocerebellar ataxia 7. Jarren died at the age of 18 months.
JayLynn’s hereditary illness was diagnosed before Jarren passed. After consultation with all available Medical Specialists, knowing there were no cures, we chose to care for Jaylynn at home. She was loved and cared for 24/7 through the next 7 months. Jaylnn died twice in my wife’s arms. We were able to revive her both times. About 2 months later JayLynn died in her mother’s arms.
We buried Jaylynn on her 1st Birthday, next to Jarren.
Jarren and JayLynn were the greatest blessing that we’ve ever received. Thank you, Lord.
To have to endure legal proceedings would have been a heart crushing experience. St. Louis Children’s Hospital never once recommended such uncaring, barbaric action. All praising of every effort by St. Louis Children’s Hospital for diagnosis, caring and love they provided.
Toenex: That’s back when hospitals were charities.
Cato: Those were short lives worth living. And they added much to other people’s lives. Thanks for reminding us of the importance and impact of every life.
Everyone: I highly recommend the book GOD’S HOTEL by Victoria Sweet. It’s about the last almshouse (long term charity hospital) in the country (sadly, now closed) and the value of slow medicine and of treating everyone. Even if there is no hope of ‘cure,’ every life can be cared for. The author has an eponymous website.
Dear Cato, peace and God’s blessings to you and your family. Thanks for sharing your story
Cato,
I’m very sorry for your losses.
God Bless.
God forbid a serial killer would be put to death for his/her crimes. The libs would wrong their hands all the way to the supreme court.
I am so disgusted with the modern practice of medicine that I don’t even know where to START. Hospice practices have disgusted me. The way the elderly are treated has disgusted me. The utter fraud of COVID from start to finish has obviously disgusted me. That hospitals have fallen so low that I had to save my son’s life while he was IN one WHILE CONNECTED TO TELEMETRY dusgusted me no END.
But I always had that ONE crumb that they were there to, you know, SAVE LIVES.
Back in MY day, it was “the code” that you’d code. Absent a DIRECT, CONFIRMED DNR or EXTREMELY obvious death, the ironclad rule was that you would work a nonbreather until they were stiff, leaky, and starting to smell as long as there was ANY chance of a recovery. Yes, it had limits, but ONE thing you would ABSOLUTELY, DEFINITELY NOT REFUSE IS TO TRY TO SAVE THE LIFE OF SOMEONE WHO’S BEGGING YOU TO.
…now, with the rise of Government health care, on-demand abortion and hospice care, life is being cheapened apace. Since Democrats don’t need the elderly alive to vote for them any more, they’ve figured out more and better ways to bump them off, and I don’t notice any “covid hero” Governors have faced ANY consequences for it, either.
But that doctors not only ACCEPT,but PROMOTE this malarkey is beyond the pale. Medical professionals abetting this are worse than murderers to me, traitors to their oath, tratorsto their patents, traitors to the Lord God who GAVE them their talents.
Hoestly, I can’t take this further now. This is too vile for words. But I would consider the doctors “quality of life” to make HIM not worth continuing to live, were he to do this to MY kin.
Just saying.
cato
APRIL 15, 2022 AT 12:50 PM
And God bless you for giving those chldren te best short life they could possibly have had. The worth of a life cannot be measured in time, and you will have all the time together in forever when you are reunited at the mansion of the Lord.
May all the pain fade leaving only the happiness of ever having known them.
God Bless,
SNS