# Texas law won't allow pregnant woman to be taken off life support **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 4, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837 "2014-01-04T00:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/201 "2014-02-07T15:42:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > “Please understand, Doctor, I know it’s not in the living will, but we both always agreed we wanted a big family . . .” You do know you’re going to hell, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/202 "2014-02-12T01:35:37Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Ok this is oddly similar: [http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Tragic+lLife+death+story+plays+Victoria+General+Hospital/9463057/story.html](http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/Tragic+lLife+death+story+plays+Victoria+General+Hospital/9463057/story.html) > > Summary: Canadian couple Dylan and Robyn Benson. Robyn Benson brain dead dead, also of hemorrhage, at 22 weeks pregnant. The big difference is, in this case, **Dylan wants the baby**. > > Huh. So much for this kind of thing being extremely rare. Well, Iver Cohen Benson has been born at about 28 weeks and Robyn has died (again?). Iver seems healthy. As I said, I’m not interested in the political aspect but, WOW! we can keep a brain dead person alive for 6 weeks? Not to mention maintaining a baby? [http://www.misterbenson.com/posts/immensely-sad-but-incredibly-proud/](http://www.misterbenson.com/posts/immensely-sad-but-incredibly-proud/) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/203 "2014-02-12T02:30:07Z")
Munoz was _14 weeks_ when she died. Benson was _22 weeks_. Like people keep saying, there’s a big difference. And again, her next of kin was allowed to make that decision, which was his right to do so. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2014, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/204 "2014-02-12T02:37:18Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > Well, Iver Cohen Benson has been born at about 28 weeks and Robyn has died (again?). Iver seems healthy. As I said, I’m not interested in the political aspect but, WOW! we can keep a brain dead person alive for 6 weeks? Not to mention maintaining a baby? > [http://www.misterbenson.com/posts/immensely-sad-but-incredibly-proud/](http://www.misterbenson.com/posts/immensely-sad-but-incredibly-proud/) This is wonderful news, and I do wish them all the best. So wonderful to see him Kangarooing with Dad. (However, the baby is on a CPAP, which is worrisome. He’s not yet healthy, although he may indeed become so, and I hope he does. He’s having trouble keeping his oxygen level up. Better than being intubated, but more concerning than a nasal canula.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/205 "2014-06-10T14:28:23Z")
[And now, in Louisiana . . .](http://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/) > [@](#): > > Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will soon decide on a bill that could require hospitals to keep pregnant women on life support, regardless of her family’s wishes. > > The bill, which passed the Louisiana State House of Representatives last week, specifies that if a woman is at least 20 weeks pregnant, she must be kept on life support. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/206 "2014-06-10T17:47:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And now, in Louisiana . . .](http://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/) And who pays for this state-mandated health care? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/207 "2014-06-10T18:53:45Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And who pays for this state-mandated health care? The baby, eventually, under the companion bill, the Indentured Servitude Act. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/208 "2014-06-10T20:21:52Z")
Female slavery brought to you by the party of small government and respect for the individual. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/209 "2014-06-10T20:30:18Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > Female slavery brought to you by the party of small government and respect for the individual. Slavery of dead people has to be a new low. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2014, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/210 "2014-06-10T21:33:15Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Slavery of dead people has to be a new low. Reminds me of my mother’s death two years ago. She left documents in writing indicating that she wanted to be cremated. Idiot Brother and my father decided cremation wasn’t Jewish enough and she, who had been raised Orthodox by her grandparents, who spoke fluent Yiddish, didn’t know enough about Judaism. So they buried her against her will and despite my attempts to get them to adhere to her express written wishes. Even in death she wasn’t allowed control over her own body. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/211 "2014-06-11T02:35:56Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [And now, in Louisiana . . .](http://time.com/2851030/pregnant-women-life-support-louisiana-bill-bobby-jindal/) > > > [@](#): > > > > Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal will soon decide on a bill that could require hospitals to keep pregnant women on life support, regardless of her family’s wishes. > > > > The bill, which passed the Louisiana State House of Representatives last week, specifies that if a woman is at least 20 weeks pregnant, she must be kept on life support. Wow. :eek: Anybody else ever read _Hellstrom’s Hive_, by Frank Herbert, back in the '70s? ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837/212 "2014-06-11T12:39:35Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > The baby, eventually, under the companion bill, the Indentured Servitude Act. Here is my handbasket for you to borrow…😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/texas-law-wont-allow-pregnant-woman-to-be-taken-off-life-support/677837.md?page=10)