Sit in / prayer vigil to stop pregnant woman being pulled from life support

District Judge R.H. Wallace has ruled the pregnant mother being kept alive at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth should be removed from life support.

He has given the Hospital until 5:00PM to appeal the decision. But pro-lifers concerned for Baby Munoz said they are not waiting that long.

Hospital officials have said they were bound by the Texas Advance Directives Act, which prohibits withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from a pregnant patient. But in his brief ruling, Wallace said that “Mrs. Munoz is dead,” meaning that the hospital was misapplying the law. The ruling did not mention the fetus.

The hospital has not pronounced her dead and has continued to treat her over the objections of both Erick Munoz and her parents, who sat together in court Friday.

Larry Thompson, a state’s attorney representing the public hospital, told the judge Friday that the hospital recognized the Munoz family’s pain and rights, but said it had a greater legal responsibility to protect the fetus.

“There is a life involved, and the life is the unborn child,” Thompson said.

Former state District Judge Sharen Wilson sent a statement explaining that the district attorney only advises hospital officials.

But she added: “As [a] private citizen, Wilson would hope JPS would appeal and put the baby’s life first.”

Pro-lifers have set-up a Facebook page for Marlise and her baby and are planning a protest,

According to the group, Operation Rescue, they plan to protest outside the hospital Sunday afternoon in opposition to the unwarranted killing of Mrs. Munoz andd her baby.

They also plan peaceful sit-in is planned in the office of Robert Earley, President and Chief Executive Officer of JPS Hospital. The sit-in participants are willing to engage in peaceful civil disobedience in order to encourage the hospital to appeal the horrific decision by Judge R.H. Wallace, Jr. to remove life support from Mrs. Munoz and her baby.

A recent study has shown that babies in similar circumstances have about a 50% survival rate. All that is needed is just a few more weeks until baby Munoz can be safely delivered and cared for properly.

Operation Rescue has more than one couple who have volunteered to adopt Baby Munoz, whether or not he or she is born with health problems.

Please join national pro-life leaders, Troy Newman, President of Operation Rescue, and Pastor Stephan Broden of Fair Park Bible Fellowship and Founder of National Black Pro-Life Coalition, on Sunday, January 26 at 4:00pm outside JPS Hospital, located at 1400-1598 S. Main Street, Fort Worth, Texas 76104.

“As Christians, we are compelled by faith to intervene on behalf of Mrs. Munoz and her child in obedience to Proverbs 24:ll, which states, ‘Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter,'” stated Newman. “The law that was meant to be on the side of Baby Munoz has failed to protect the most vulnerable. We cannot in good conscience stand idly by while this injustice wrongly takes two innocent lives.”

“We must make every attempt to save this baby. He or she is a person, guaranteed protection under the constitution. There is an alternative for the family. There are families willing to take the baby and provide a safe place for it to grow in a loving environment,” said Pastor Broden. “If we err, we should err on the side of life.”