Maine mom fights state to keep baby daughter alive after she emerges from coma
Maine mom fights state to keep baby daughter alive after she emerges from coma
A Maine mother is fighting in court to have a DNR order lifted from her brain damaged baby. (File photo)
A Maine mother is seeking to overturn a state-imposed do not resuscitate order for her brain-damaged 1-year-old daughter, who miraculously emerged from a coma after being placed in her teenage mom's arms to die.
Attorneys with the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland and three other advocacy groups have filed friend-of-the-court briefs arguing that state officials, who maintain temporary custody of the baby, do not have the constitutional right to interfere with the parental wishes of Virginia Trask, who was 16 when she gave birth to her daughter.
Aleah Peaslee, identified in court documents only as A.P., was 6 months old when prosecutors say she was permanently blinded and suffered brain damage after being shaken by her 21-year-old father, Kevin Peaslee, on Dec. 21 in an apartment in Augusta, Maine. Peaslee, of Windsor, later pleaded not guilty to aggravated assault after being indicted by a Kennebec County grand jury.
"The precise legal issue here is: Does the state get to make that kind of life or death decision when parental rights have not been formally terminated? Thats the $64,000 question."- Attorney David Crocker
The girl, who suffered multifocal seizures during the incident, went into a deep coma, but attempts were made within days to remove her from a ventilator. Doctors then informed Aleahs mother that she was neurologically devastated and would not recover, prompting the girls parents to agree to a do not resuscitate (DNR) order, according to court documents.
But the girls condition improved after she was placed in her mothers arms to die, eventually recovering to breathe on her own. Within days, the girls parents sought to cancel the DNR order, but medical providers refused, citing her still-grave condition. The Maine Department of Health and Human Development took immediate custody of the baby due to the fact she allegedly had been abused by a parent, but did not fully terminate the mother's rights, according to legal documents. That, say lawyers for Trask, gives her the right to rescind the order not to resuscitate Aleah should her condition worsen.
The parents would not agree to a DNR order, the brief reads.
Attorney David Crocker, who is serving as local counsel on behalf of the groups that filed the amicus brief, said the case centers around the question of who gets to make the ultimate decision regarding a child whose parent never technically lost their parental rights.
Who gets to make these decisions? Crocker told FoxNews.com. The precise legal issue here is: Does the state get to make that kind of life-or-death decision when parental rights have not been formally terminated? Thats the $64,000 question.
Crocker said he saw parallels between the girls plight and that of Aysha King, the 5-year-old British boy whose parents took the critically ill child for treatment at a hospital in Spain following their release from custody after U.K. authorities dropped accusations of child cruelty against them.
What are the larger constitutional and moral issues at stake in depriving the parents the ability to make those decisions? Crocker asked.
John Martins, a spokesman for the Maine Department of Health and Human Development, said he was looking into the matter early Thursday, declining further comment.
Calls seeking additional comment from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland were not returned Thursday.
State officials, according to the attorneys on behalf of the girl's mother, have an interest in affirming the medical profession as one that heals and does no harm.
"Allowing a physician to mandate that a mother agree to a DNR does not properly respect that duty," the brief continues. "The integrity of the profession depends on its ability to utilize the best practices, with the best information, to promote patient well-being. In contrast, a physician-mandated DNR would be fraught with uncertainty and risk."
ADF Senior Counsel Steve Aden said the state is effectively arguing that the girls mother is unfit to make medical decisions for her child and called upon the states highest court to preserve the value of life.
No one has declared this mother an unfit parent, yet the government wants to take her place, Aden said in a statement. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court should reaffirm Mainers interest in life, parental rights, and the integrity of the medical profession by reversing the lower court and restoring this moms full rights to make medical decisions on her daughters behalf.
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No one has declared this mother an unfit parent, yet the government wants to take her place, Aden said in a statement. The Maine Supreme Judicial Court should reaffirm Mainers interest in life, parental rights, and the integrity of the medical profession by reversing the lower court and restoring this moms full rights to make medical decisions on her daughters behalf.