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| Tinslee Lewis |
Tinslee Lewis has been the subject of a legal battle for over half of her life. In November 2019, Cook Children's Medical Center attempted to invoke Texas's 10-Day Rule, allowing it to remove life-support from the child in 10 days if her family did not find another hospital willing to treat her.
Unable to do so, Tinslee's mother sued the hospital and is challenging whether the 10-Day-Rule is constitutional. A previous district court ruling prevents the hospital from removing life support from Tinslee until a decision is made. The district court has not yet announced when it will hear arguments on the case's merits, since it was waiting on the Supreme Court to rule on the hospital's appeal.
“T.L.’s life has value,” attorneys for Tinslee and her mother wrote in a brief to the Supreme Court. “Withdrawal of life-saving treatment would kill T.L., who has normal brain function, interacts with Mother, and experiences joy from living. Mother acknowledges that certain medical procedures, such as IV insertions, can cause T.L. pain, but T.L. is not in agony.”
According to Texas Right to Life, a judge will consider whether Tinslee’s rights have been violated, if a hospital should have unilateral authority to withdraw life-sustaining medical treatment from a patient against the will of the parents, if patients have any due process rights in these cases, and if the 10-Day Rule is unconstitutional.
