On Anniversary of Baby Tinslee Lewis’s Victory, Cook Children’s Moves to Fight at SCOTUS

Today, November 10, marks one year since Baby Tinslee Lewis was saved from an imposed death under the Texas 10-Day Rule. Last year, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth planned to pull the plug on Baby Tinslee against her mother’s will. Thankfully, Fort Worth Judge Alex Kim granted a temporary restraining order merely hours before the child would have died. 

Since then, Baby Tinslee celebrated her first Christmas and her first birthday. She has her first teeth. Her family has enjoyed precious time with Tinslee that otherwise would have been stolen by the Texas 10-Day Rule. Her story has even touched the lives of other people. Families of over a dozen patients have called Texas Right to Life for help after hearing Baby Tinslee’s saga and were rescued from the 10-Day Rule.

Baby Tinslee is a miracle.

Despite Tinslee’s many wins in court protecting her life, the hospital will not relent. Today, Cook Children’s filed an appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States in yet another attempt to remove the toddler’s life-sustaining treatment. This comes after the Texas Second Court of Appeals issued a 148-page opinion in July protecting Baby Tinslee and decimating the deadly 10-Day Rule. Cook Children’s first appealed the decision to the Supreme Court of Texas in August, and the state’s highest bench declined to hear their appeal, thereby further safeguarding Tinslee. 

Kimberlyn Schwartz, Director of Media and Communication at Texas Right to Life responded, “Placing a countdown on patients cuts their lives short. Cook Children’s planned to pull the plug on Baby Tinslee a year ago today, claiming her death was imminent, but one year later, Tinslee proved them wrong. The judiciary thus far has recognized that the statute violates patients’ rights to Life and due process. We are stunned that a hospital is so desperate to end the life of a patient entrusted to their care.” 

God uses even the weakest to confound the wise and the strong to build His Kingdom and to protect His creation. The Lewis family’s bravery could not only protect Tinslee, but also could save thousands of Texas patients in the future through this challenge of the 10-Day Rule.