Pro-Life Group Steps In After Woman Is Taken Off Life Support Against Family's Wishes
After a 61-year-old woman was taken off life support without her family’s permission, Right to Life of East Texas and other pro-life groups rallied to find Carolyn Jones, who suffered a stroke in 2017, a new hospital that would provide care for her.
Jones had been a patient at Memorial Hermann Southwest in Houston since the fall of 2018. This month, her family was told they had 10 days to find her another place to provide care because the hospital invoked the 10-day rule of the state’s Advance Directives Act.
The provision allows hospital ethics committees to stop giving patients life-sustaining treatment if doctors believe it is ineffective. If the family could not find a new place for Jones, they would face the removal of her life-sustaining treatment, KPRC 2 reported.
Although the ventilator was removed Monday against her family’s will, Jones was able to breathe on her own enough to remain alive but she was in need of dialysis, according to Fox News.
Donald Jones, Carolyn’s husband, said the ruling was wrong.
“You have prisoners on death row. They’re waiting to get executed. This is the same situation we’re dealing with here,” he said, according to KPRC 2.
“It’s not right, not for someone that is loving and is caring and has done nothing but serve 61 years of help, to just discard her like an animal,” said Kina Jones, the couple’s daughter.
On Wednesday, a pro-life group that had become aware of Jones’s plight had her taken by private ambulance to a different facility that agreed to care for her.
“It’s kind of crazy that you try to get someone out of a hospital so their life could be saved,” Mark Dickson, director and vice president of Right to Life East Texas, said.
Dickson is the pastor of SovereignLOVE church in Longview, Texas. He said he believed God called him to drive to Houston to help Jones.
He said he read her Psalm 71, “about people that are trying to take your life” and tried to keep her spirits up by saying neither God nor they would desert her.
“We never thought we’d have to arrange an escape from a hospital. But we did,” Dickson said.
Kira Jones said her mom, who started receiving dialysis Thursday at her new hospital, is in stable condition.
To address the costs of her care, Texas Right to Life is seeking to raise $50,000, with $33,000 raised to date.
“No one is trying to kill Carolyn Jones, which is great. No one is trying to deny her life-saving care. They’re trying to save her life. We feel good. We can sleep at night now. We don’t feel bullied,” he said.
“God has done some amazing things through her,” Dickson said. “Laws are going to be changed here in Texas.”
The Texas Senate did act Tuesday to pass a bill that extends the 10-day period to 45 days. The bill, SB 2809, now goes to the Texas House.
Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital provided a statement to KBMT, but did not comment specifically on the issue.
“Due to patient privacy laws, and out of respect for our patients and their families, we are unable to comment on specific patient cases. As a health system, we are committed to delivering patient-centered care and respecting the rights of our patients and their loved ones. We understand how painful it can be when difficult medical decisions must be made, and our hearts go out to families in these circumstances,” the statement said.
“End-of-life decisions are made by physicians after careful and thorough consultation with patients, their families, the healthcare team, and a medical ethics committee. The decision-making process is outlined in Texas law and can take many months. The law provides a tool to balance the tough choice between carrying out patients’ and families’ wishes and the ethical duty not to increase or prolong patients’ suffering.”
“We are committed to providing compassionate care that follows the standards of evidence-based medicine and best practices. We understand that these decisions are never easy, but we follow Texas law, as written, and our ultimate goal is always to make medical decisions that promote comfort, compassion, and dignity for our patients,” the statement said.
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