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Catie Cassidy is a 64-year-old woman with lung cancer who needs oxygen to remain comfortable. According to the Diane Coleman, President of Not Dead Yet, Fairview Hospital in Minnesota is planning to remove her oxygen without her consent. Thankfully the disability rights group was able to connect a friend of Catie’s to the Life Legal Defense Foundation who have offered to take up Catie’s case. In their press release Life Legal confirmed that the hospital, “plans to remove Catie’s oxygen tomorrow morning, which will result in her death by suffocation.”
They have also released a video where Catie can be seen saying that she does not want the doctors to “pull the plug,” and heartbreakingly, “I want to live.” According to Life Legal, she told this to the hospital’s chaplain who was sent to Catie’s room by the hospital to prepare her to be euthanized. “Even though the hospital has been sedating Catie, she understands what the hospital is planning to do and says she is still fighting and is ‘not ready’ to die.”
Life Legal’s Executive Director Alexandra Snyder stated about Catie’s case, “When asked if she wants her oxygen removed, Catie’s response was ‘NO! I want to live!’ Withdrawing Catie’s oxygen to cause her death is active euthanasia, which is illegal in Minnesota and every other state. We implore the hospital to do the right thing and provide the care Catie needs.”
It is abhorrent that a hospital would attempt to withdraw needed care from a patient who is adamantly expressing that she wants to live.
Watch and share the video of Catie pleading for her life here:
https://youtu.be/42rVk-wz1Hg
Reprieve for Catie
Yesterday, Life Legal reported that 64-year-old Catie Cassidy was threatened with removal of oxygen while receiving care at a Minnesota hospital. Without supplemental oxygen, Catie would have suffocated to death.
In response, Life Legal attorneys sent a demand letter letting the hospital know of its duties under Minnesota law.
We received news today that Fairview Hospital in Edina is fully cooperating with Catie’s health care proxy and that they will continue to provide Catie with oxygen as needed.
We are grateful for the work of our Life Legal Minnesota team, especially attorneys Wayne Holstad and Craig Beuning of Holstad and Knaak, who intervened immediately on Catie’s behalf.
“Life Legal is pleased that Catie will receive the care she needs and that her wish to fight for her life as long as she can will be honored,” said Life Legal Executive Director Alexandra Snyder. “It is time for us to have a larger conversation about the inherent value of every human life and about our moral obligation to protect those who are most vulnerable.”