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(LifeSiteNews) — Margo Naranjo, the brain-damaged woman at the heart of a Texas euthanasia battle, has reportedly indicated that she wants to continue living.
On July 19, Texas attorney Courtland Kristoferson filed an Emergency Application for Issuance of Temporary Restraining Order against Margaret Grace “Margo” Naranjo’s parents and co-guardians, Mike and Cathy Naranjo, in which he stated that home health care workers had said Margo had communicated her wish to continue receiving food, water, and medical treatment to both them and Adult Protective Services.
LifeSiteNews has obtained a copy of the Emergency Application.
The document states that “the home health workers taking care of Margaret have represented that she is in good condition and that her health has not declined or deteriorated to the point hospice treatment is necessary. Despite that, the Co-Guardians have placed her on hospice.”
EXCLUSIVE: Bishop Strickland urges Margo Naranjo’s parents not to remove her food and fluids
“Additionally, the home health care workers represent that they have created a system with Margaret to answer Yes or No questions by turning her head left or right. Reportedly when asked by home health workers and Adult Protective Services whether Margaret wished to discontinue treatment and go on hospice, she represented that she wanted to continue food, water, and medical treatment.”
The Emergency Application stated further: “If Catherine Naranjo, Michael Naranjo, and any other person providing medical care to Margaret Naranjo is not immediately restrained, and further restrained on a temporary basis as requested in this Application, [Margo] will likely die, thus suffering a probable, imminent and irreparable damage by dying.”
Earlier this week, Mike Naranjo, who has live-streamed daily prayers for Margo ever since the June 21, 2020, auto collision that left her disabled, reported that a court order had removed him and Cathy as their daughter’s guardians and that Margo was still receiving food and hydration. He also indicated that he was getting along with the new guardian.
In a now-deleted prayer video, Cathy informed viewers that Margo was approaching the end of her life and that she was going into hospice care, where she would no longer receive nutrition and hydration, and was expected to die within “three to five days,” particularly because of the dehydration. Cathy represented this as honoring Margo’s wish, made four years ago, that she would not want to be kept alive by machines and as fulfilling her desire to go to heaven.
READ: Love them all: Margo Naranjo’s parents also need our support to continue her care
In addition, someone reached out to St. Ann Catholic Parish to book an August 2 funeral for Margo, indicating that Margo was in the final stages of life. When the pastor discovered that Margo was not, in fact, dying, he canceled the booking and reached out to the Naranjo family.
Texas Right to Life first reported on the court document yesterday. When LifeSiteNews asked Texas Right to Life’s Kim Schwartz what a death by starvation and dehydration would mean, she replied that they “think Bobby Schindler [the brother of Terri Schiavo] said it best. The process is ‘cruel and barbaric and takes days and often weeks to play itself out, torturing not only the patient but all who love them as well.’
‘I watched my own sister anguish through 13 days without food or water and there are no words that can properly describe this inhumanity. At the end, blood appeared in her eyes because her tissues were cracking from a loss of moisture.’”
Margo was badly hurt in a traffic collision caused by a careless driver on June 16, 2020. After consulting a brain injury expert, Margo’s parents rejected “comfort care” (in this case a euphemism for allowing their daughter to die of her catastrophic injuries) and decided to fight for her life. Margo remained in a coma for some weeks before reaching some level of minimal consciousness. She also underwent numerous surgeries and suffered from pneumonia. By August 7, Margo could breathe on her own and even consume small amounts of food and drink orally. She went home from the hospital on September 5, 2020.
Mike and Cathy Naranjo have offered public prayers for Margo during her long and slow recovery, as well as writing publicly on the CaringBridge website about their joys and sorrows in caring for their daughter. Through their prayer group and public testimony, they have created a spiritual community of people from different faiths, some of whom have been advising the Naranjos not to end their daughter’s life.
The decision to stop Margo’s nutrition and hydration was apparently a new development, one at odds with the Naranjos’ expressions of gratitude in 2020 that they had not opted for “comfort care.” On November 1, 2020, Mike revealed that Margo had said shortly before the collision that she would not want to live on life support and that he was grateful that she had recovered enough for him not to have to make that decision. He also indicated that he and Cathy believed Margo could hear and understand them, that she could tell them when she was in pain, and that she enjoyed having showers. However, Mike also wrote frankly about the challenges the family faced from insurance companies and incompetent nursing staff, among others, and the agony of having discovered someone or something had broken Margo’s arm.
In June 2023, Zachary Cleveland, who was driving the truck that slammed into Margo’s car, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with an additional 10 years of probation.
This is a developing story, and new information will be added as it is obtained.
Send an urgent message to Canadian legislators urging them to stop expanding assisted suicide