Texas hospital removes pregnant woman from ventilator after court order

A Texas hospital that had refused to remove a brain dead woman from a ventilator despite her family’s wishes because she was pregnant complied with a court order on 26 January and halted life support.

Marlise Muñoz, a 33 year old mother of one, had been found unconscious and without a pulse by her husband, Erick Muñoz, at their home on 26 November. It is thought that she had a pulmonary embolism. At the time she was 14 weeks pregnant.

Her husband, a paramedic, called for an ambulance and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Ms Muñoz was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, where …