Hospital Tries to Remove Baby from Life Support—Parents Fight Back

from Alexandra Snyder, Executive Director
Life Legal Defense Foundation

Life Legal received a call this week about a toddler who was about to be removed from life support just days after suffering a head injury. Baby Joshua* was breathing on his own when he was admitted to the hospital. He was placed under heavy sedation for several days and doctors were not able to wake him up—as a result, he is now on a ventilator. On Monday afternoon, the hospital told Joshua’s parents they would perform a brain death exam with or without parental consent. On Tuesday morning a doctor arrived at Joshua’s bedside unannounced to remove the baby’s ventilator.

Joshua’s parents and grandmother called for help and Life Legal found a local attorney to intervene. The hospital is agreeing for now to continue care, but only for a brief period of time. Family members are trying to arrange home care for baby Joshua.

Since his injury, Joshua has been moving his fingers and he wiggles his toes when his parents tickle him. Movements in response to touch are significant in that they indicate that Joshua still has some brain stem activity. 

This is similar to the Israel Stinson case where 2-year-old Israel started moving in response to his parents’ voice and touch after a California hospital declared him brain dead. When Israel was transferred to a hospital outside the U.S., doctors did an EEG which showed that the toddler had active brainwaves. When Israel returned to the U.S., doctors at a Los Angeles hospital refused to recognize the EEGs and would not do their own brain exams to assess Israel’s condition. Instead, they relied on the brain death exam done over 4 months earlier. Tragically, a judge ruled against Israel and his life support was withdrawn over the protests of Israel’s parents before attorneys had time to file an appeal.

Laws in every state allow hospitals to do brain death exams and remove patients—even children—from life support without notice and against the wishes of their parents. These laws make no accommodation for independent second opinions and provide no appeal process to ensure that patients like Joshua and Israel are afforded due process before a hospital decides to end their lives. Life Legal has joined with the Pacific Justice Institute to challenge California’s brain death law in a case that is currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. We recently learned that oral argument will be scheduled some time this winter.

Please pray for the battle for baby Joshua’s life! And please pray for our case before the Ninth Circuit.

Cases like this are challenging to litigate. In Joshua’s case, the hospital already had a legal team lined up to fight Joshua’s parents. Fortunately, the local attorney was able to work with the hospital to maintain care for the time being so that Joshua’s parents can make alternate arrangements for their son.

 

The mission of Life Legal Defense Foundation (LLDF) is to give innocent and helpless human beings of any age, particularly unborn children, a trained and committed defense against the threat of death, and to support their advocates in the nation’s courtrooms. LLDF will accomplish its mission and purpose through the law and education.  

For more information or to make a donation to help them with their work, please use this link.