TARRANT COUNTY (WBAP/KLIF)- Attorney General Ken Paxton is supporting a nine-month-old baby in the fight for her life.
Paxton filed an amicus brief to the Tarrant County District Court saying Cook Children’s decision to remove baby Tinslee Lewis from life support, against the family’s wishes, is unconstitutional because it violates her right to life and doesn’t give the family sufficient time to make arrangements.
Tinslee is battling a rare heart defect and Cook Children’s believes she’s suffering. The hospital enacted a Texas law that gives the family 10 days to find another hospital before they end treatment.
“One of the core principles provided by the United States Constitution is that no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. This unconstitutional statute infringes on patients’ right to life and does not allow patients and their families sufficient notice and the opportunity to be heard before physicians override the rights of their patients,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Patients must be heard and justly represented when determining their own medical treatment, especially when the decision to end treatment could end their life.”
“Currently, section 166.046 of the Texas Health and Safety Code states that a physician who decides that treatment is medically inappropriate – along with an ethics or medical committee that affirm the decision – is not required to provide life-sustaining treatment at the request of a patient or the person responsible for the health care decisions of the patient unless a court orders otherwise. The statute also fails to require that physicians provide an explanation of why they refused life-sustaining treatment, effectively allowing the government to deny an individual’s right to his or her own life and to do so without due process.”
Some activists are pushing for law makers to do away with the 10 day law completely. Kimberlyn Schwartz with Texas Right to Life, a group representing the Lewis Family, said they are pleased with Paxton’s support. “We are grateful he is joining in the fight to protect baby Tinslee and to defend all Texas patients,” Schwartz said. “We really hope Tinslee is the last person to have to go through this,” she said.
For now, a Tarrant County Judge has extended a temporary restraining order to keep the hospital from taking her off life support. Tinslee is protected until December 10th.