Texas family fights back against hospital’s attempts to remove baby from life support

Update 11/20/19: The judge has extended the timeline for the family of Tinslee Lewis to find a new medical facility to care for her before Cook Children’s Medical Center removes her life support. The original restraining order against the hospital gave Tinslee’s family until November 22 to have the baby girl moved but now the deadline has been moved to December 10.

“We praise God for this extension of time, which grants Tinslee more than a month of life after the hospital was initially set to pull the plug on the baby on November 10,” Texas Right to Life said in a statement.

Tinslee’s mother has started a donation page to help raise money to care for her daughter.

Original Article: The family of a baby girl on life support has been awarded a temporary restraining order against the hospital that planned to turn off her life-sustaining treatment.

Nine-month-old Tinslee Lewis’ family has been fighting to keep her on life support as doctors from Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth enacted the 10-Day Rule, allowing them to end life-sustaining treatment for the baby girl despite the family’s desire to continue to treat her. Texas’ 10-Day Rule gives families just 10 days to find a new hospital to treat the patient before they remove life support. Tinslee was scheduled to have life support removed at 3 p.m. on Sunday but that same day, the family learned that Tarrant County District Judge Alex Kim had granted them a temporary restraining order against the hospital, according to The Blaze.

“She’s a fighter,” Tinslee’s mother Trinity Lews said of her daughter. “She’s been through so much.”

Save Tinslee Lewis! Call Cook Children's administrator Stan Davis

Tinslee was born prematurely and was diagnosed with a rare heart defect called Ebstein anomaly which causes her heart to press against her lungs. She needs a ventilator to breathe.

READ: Baby born at 24 weeks survives after mom refuses to turn off life support

“We are just asking for the opportunity to give Tinslee a fighting chance,” said Tye Brown, Trinity Lewis’ cousin.

It is the opinion of officials at Cook Children’s that Tinslee is in pain and that nothing can be done to help her. Hospital spokesperson Winifred King said, “While we believe every child’s life is sacred, we also believe that no child should be sentenced to a life of pain.” This indicates there may actually be hope for Tinslee, but because she has health concerns and may be in some level of pain, the doctors at Cook Children’s seem to have determined she would be better off dead.

Texas Right to Life board director Rich DeOttee called the Texas 10-Day Rule “one of the worst laws in the country.” He added, “Under the 10-Day Rule, criminals on death row have more rights than patients at Texas hospitals.” Texas Right to Life has been working closely with Tinslee’s family including providing them with an attorney.

Cook’s Children is prevented from turning off Tinslee’s life support until November 23. The family now has until November 22 to move Tinslee to another facility that is willing to treat her or Cook’s Children will facilitate her death.

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