Houston, TX – December 10, 2015: Today, on Human Rights Day, the United Nations commemorates nearly 50 years since the signing of two International Covenants on Human Rights. These Covenants outline what the U.N. calls the “rights that are the birth right of all human beings.”
On this poignant anniversary, American hero Chris Dunn languishes in a Houston hospital where he faces the possibility of being removed from life-sustaining care against his will. Chris’s doctors have eschewed diagnosing and attempting to treat Chris in favor of abandoning his life and issuing a mandate that he be removed from breathing support. Houston Methodist has invoked the draconian Texas statute which allows them to wield monstrous power over Chris’s life, even against his wishes. The hospital has filed to usurp Chris’s mother’s Medical Power of Attorney in an attempt to strip her of her ability to fight on her son’s behalf. Where are Chris Dunn’s rights on Human Rights Day?
Chris, who is not brain-dead and has personally expressed his wish to live, is battling the inhumane provisions of the Texas Advance Directives Act (TADA). This law places total authority over Chris’s life – regardless of his written or expressed desire to live – in the hands of a nameless, faceless hospital committee which is answerable to no one. These committees issue death sentences to Texas patients at-will, and render families helpless, as the law makes no provision for legal recourse in the face of such a death sentence.
Sadly, Chris is among countless Texans who have faced this hospital-imposed death sentence. Since TADA was passed in 1999, many Texans have died as a direct result of hospital discrimination because the law entrusts the hospitals with sole authority to mete out subjective “quality of life” assessments. TADA thus stands in utter opposition to the Right to Life of hospitalized Texans.
Since Texas Right to Life launched our #HelpChrisSeeChristmas campaign, over half a million individuals have been exposed to Chris’s shocking story through a host of social and news media outlets, and momentum is growing quickly. You can help fight for Chris by alerting friends and family to Chris’s plight. Consider signing our petition to help Chris here, participating in our December 15 Thunderclap, and using the hash tag #HelpChrisSeeChristmas on Facebook and Twitter. Finally, call or email Houston Methodist CEO Marc Boom at713-441-2671 or mboom@tmhs.org and tell him that Chris deserves to live.
Together, we can fight to ensure that Chris Dunn is not numbered among TADA’s many victims. Help us help Chris see Christmas. Learn more at TexasRightToLife.com.
