62 Days

Filmmaker Rebecca Haimowitz’s documentary recounts the struggle of a grieving husband to do right by his wife. Marlise and Erick Muñoz, a paramedic and a firefighter, respectively, fell in love, got married, and had a child. Marlise then suffered a pulmonary embolism while pregnant with their second child, after which doctors pronounced her brain dead. Dr. Karen Smith of John Peter Smith Hospital, where Marlise was treated, says that Marlise would never be able to regain brain function. Nonetheless, a Texas law requires that pregnant patients be resuscitated, regardless as to the family’s wishes or the viability of the pregnancy (Marlise was only 14 weeks along). Erick says that Marlise wouldn’t have wanted to remain on life support, and Marlise’s parents—Lynne and Ernest Machado—agree. She even had a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) sticker on the back of her paramedic’s badge. Erick remembers that her physical decline was swift. She was confined to a rotating bed to prevent infection, her eyelids were taped shut to prevent fluttering, and her hands grew stiff. To him, she was "like a mannequin." To protesters who didn’t fully understand the situation, the family were "monsters" for wanting to end Marlise’s life, even though she had no real life to live. At that point, Erick sued to have her taken off life support. After the judge issued his verdict, Erick and the Machados met with the ACLU to see about overturning the law. But for the time being, it remains in effect, and 32 other states have similar pregnancy exclusion clauses. Haimowitz shines a clear light on a little known policy that could have devastating effects on unsuspecting families. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (K. Fennessy)