Baby Tinslee’s desperate fight for life against the deadly 10-Day Rule has had far-reaching effects in both the court of law and the court of public opinion.
However, as three other families who have contacted Texas Right to Life over the past several months can attest, Tinslee’s temporary victories have not dissuaded other Texas hospitals from attempting to impose this anti-Life law on more vulnerable patients.
If the following situations describe the recent experience of you or a loved one, please reach out to Texas Right to Life!
Pro-Life Texans have long known that the 10-Day Rule constitutes a gross violation of the right to Life and due process, basic human rights to which every person is guaranteed. This injustice was underscored by Tinslee Lewis’s case as she garnered international media attention starting in November 2019. Despite the fact that Tinslee was not brain dead and over the firm objections of her mother, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth sought to remove Tinslee’s ventilator and leave her to die. Thankfully, lawyers were able to intervene with a temporary restraining order, and over a year later, Baby Tinslee is still alive and fighting to stay that way.
The hospital has continually sought to remove the temporary restraining order that protects Tinslee from imposed death, and on July 24, 2020, the Second Court of Appeals issued a lengthy ruling upholding the restraining order and detailing the myriad of ways in which the 10-Day Rule violates both the Constitution and the right to due process of law. Although the hospital has continued to appeal this ruling, so far no higher court has overturned the opinion.
Despite this victory, patients still found themselves facing the anti-Life 10-Day Rule at the hands of three different Texas hospitals even after the Second Court of Appeals issued the ruling.
August 2020
Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene chose to invoke the 10-Day Rule on Patient L, who was admitted for complications related to cirrhosis and a likely heart attack. His ex-wife called Texas Right to Life for assistance at the beginning of the 10-day countdown, and we soon discovered that the hospital had not provided the necessary notification to Patient L’s family before the ethics committee had convened. After our patient advocates intervened, the hospital stopped the countdown and chose to work with the family regarding transferring him to a long-term care facility rather than re-start the process.
August 2020
Patient O was admitted to Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas after contracting COVID-19. His family called Texas Right to Life for help when they were notified that the hospital planned to hold an ethics committee meeting, the beginning of the 10-Day Rule process that the hospital must follow in order to withdraw treatment with full immunity. We were able to provide two lawyers who attended the meeting with the family and successfully prevented the 10-day countdown from beginning.
November 2020
Patient J, also a COVID-19 patient, was admitted to Northwest Texas Healthcare in Amarillo. His family contacted Texas Right to Life. The hospital already conducted the ethics committee meeting to discuss ending his life. The hospital forbade the family to attend the meeting even via phone, except to hear the decision which the committee had already made. After Texas Right to Life’s lawyer contacted the hospital lawyers, the hospital chose to stop the 10-day countdown, and Patient J’s condition has been improving ever since.
If your family has struggled recently with a hospital imposing the 10-Day Rule on a loved one, or if this is currently happening to someone you know, please reach out to Texas Right to Life!
This grievous affront to human rights in Texas cannot be allowed to continue. Until the law is finally changed to protect patients in our state, Texas Right to Life’s patient advocacy team will continue to stand ready to defend every Texan’s most fundamental right: Life.