It's a tragedy most of us cannot imagine.
Tinslee Lewis, just 9 months old, was born with rare medical conditions that affect her heart and lungs. She has been hospitalized on a ventilator since birth.
The physicians who care for her at Fort Worth's Cook Children's Medical Center say she has no chance of recovery and, they believe, she is suffering. They want to take her off life support against her parents' wishes.
And in Texas they can. State law allows a hospital's ethics committee to decide a conflict between doctors and family in such cases. If the committee rules in favor of the doctors, the family has 10 days to find a new facility for their loved one or treatment will be stopped.
That's what happened in Tinslee's case. But the law also allows the family to go to court for more time, and on a Sunday, a judge granted Tinslee's family a restraining order allowing them until Nov. 22 to find some facility that will take and care for Tinslee.
Advocates for Tinslee and others in similar situation oppose the law, calling it "draconian" and insisting only family should be able to make decisions about removing life support. An attorney for Texas Right to Life, which is helping the family find a new place for Tinslee, told CBS affiliate KTVT that the law should be declared unconstitutional or repealed.
We disagree. This case shows the law works.
While it's understandable that many would automatically side with a family on this, the fact is a hospital cannot be expected to care for a patient indefinitely if the medical consensus is that no hope remains. But the family should have the right to go to court and win more time to move the patient if they disagree. That's what happened in Tinslee's case.
These type of situations often lead to long legal battles in states where no such law is on the books. That's not good for anyone involved - the family, the hospital and especially the patient. The Texas law is intended to take all sides into consideration and avoid those battles.