The clock is ticking
Baby Emilio will die on Friday
Here is some more information and numbers to call to plead for the life of little Emilio Gonzales. I beg anyone reading this to call the numbers below, and also write the Governor to issue a stay of execution for Emili. It is heartbreaking to know that the people and organizations that one would normally expect to be supportive of Emilio are siding with the state of Texas and the doctors! Would it be different if Emilio was from a wealthy family, and not a poor child on Medicaid, the son of a single mother? If Emilio was rich, would he be on death row at the tender age of 16 months?
Melanie Childlers, one of Andrea Clark’s sisters, wrote the following disturbing message concerning Emilio Gonzales, the 16-month-old boy who is set to be taken off “life support” against his mother’s wishes:
Emilio Gonzales is a sixteen month old infant at Brackenridge Children’s Hospital in Austin, TX. He has been diagnosed with Leigh’s disease. Leigh’s disease is a genetic malady which is caused by a lack of functional mitochondrial complexes. There is NO DEFINITIVE TEST for Leigh’s disease, and physicians usually diagnose it based on symptoms, alone. There are tests which can back up the diagnosis, but let me reiterate: there are no definitive tests for this disease.
A group that practices in-house at Brackenridge Children’s Hospital, in Austin, TX, called The Pediatric Physicians Alliance of Central Texas, has decided that Emilio Gonzales should die. Although not all of the test results are in, and even if they were, they would not be a definitive diagnosis of Leigh’s disease, Emilio Gonzales is set to have his respirator removed this Friday.
This disease is usually treated with thiamin, but these physicians decided to take him off of treatment. It was only when his lawyer, Jerri Ward, insisted that they put him back on the treatment that they did so. These children can live, and often do live, to be about six or seven years of age. This child is sixteen months old and these physicians have decided not to give him a chance at the rest of his life, despite his family’s wishes to the contrary.
We have been in touch with the Bishop of the Austin Diocese–Bishop Aymond–who you would THINK would stick up for the life of this little child, but who instead supports killing little Emilio Gonzales. I guess if you’re on Medicaid, your life just isn’t as worthwhile as it would be if you had good insurance. Bishop Aymond’s number is: 512-476-4888. Please call him and if you can’t get him on the phone, leave a message, letting him know how you feel about the Catholic Church’s approval of the murder of this small child. Keep in mind: This is a CATHOLIC-owned hospital! The head of the Catholic Conference of Bishops is Andrew Rivas. His phone number is: 512-339-9882; please call him and let him know how you feel about this issue.
Please, also get in touch with Brackenridge Children’s Hospital, in Austin, TX. Their number is: 512-324-8000. Let them know how you feel about their murdering Emilio Gonzales. Maybe if they get enough calls through their switchboard, they might change their mind about killing this little boy.
You may also contact the physician’s group (Pediatric Physicians Alliance of Central Texas) that is handling Emilio’s treatment, composed of several doctors who have actively campaigned to have this child’s treatment withdrawn at: 512-324-8009.
Please post these numbers on any blog or website you can think of and help this mother stop the hospital from killing her little boy!
Update: here is a letter written by Diane Coleman, President of Not Dead Yet:
NOT DEAD YET Letter Opposing the Texas Futility Law
Dear Governor Perry,
I am writing on behalf of Not Dead Yet, a national disability organization that fights legalization of assisted suicide, euthanasia and other types of medical killing. The Texas chapter of Not Dead Yet has been part of the effort to overturn the current draconian “futility” statute in your state - an effort that has been effectively stonewalled by the special interests of medical facilities, medical professionals and bioethicists’ .
Unfortunately, the latest implementation of this statute can’t wait for a change in the law. Emilio Gonzales, who is 16 months old, will die next week when the Children’s Hospital of Austin removes him from a ventilator.
According to news reports, Emilio’s use of a ventilator lacks “dignity” and merely “prolongs death,” according to the ethics committee at Children’s Hospital.
As president of this national group, I can tell you that the nation has been watching Texas for some time with increasing alarm.
On behalf of our allies in Texas and their concerned allies around the country, I request you order a “stay of execution” for this young child.
If you need reasons other than simple humanity, here’s one that might help: Since Emilio is a Medicaid recipient, he falls under the protections afforded by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Removal of his ventilator - against the express wishes of his mother - violates his civil rights under Section 504. In addition, the due process right to a hearing arises when Medicaid benefits and services are reduced for an individual. If the recipient’s parent has even been duly notified of this right, no such hearing has taken place. Any theory that the ethics committee procedure satisfies Medicaid hearing requirements is ludicrous.
But right now, what’s most important is a child whose brief life will be snuffed out shortly - and with not even one of the protections that would be afforded death row prisoners.
Please intervene. Now.
Sincerely,
Diane Coleman, J.D.
President Not Dead Yet