Texas, why do you have such an evil law?

What is up with Texas that they would have such an evil law like this:

An ill woman in Houston could die within days because a hospital ethics committee has voted to take her off life support - this despite the fact the 54-year-old is not in a coma, is not brain dead and wants to go on living, her family says.

On April 30, Andrea Clark is scheduled to be on the receiving end of a Texas law that allows a hospital ethics committee to terminate care with 10 days' notice, giving the patient's family that length of time to find a different facility.

[...]

According to the TV station report, Clark's family is doing all it can to find another facility that will treat Andrea.

Read the rest here.

And what if they can't find another facility to take her? Will they just end her life? This is what happens when you allow voluntarily euthanasia, eventually it becomes mandatory.

I thought Texas was a red state, what happened to our pro-life position? Pro-life means we don't end life even when it's to the benefit of big business (insurance companies and hospitals).

Texas Republicans, what's up with this?

(Link via Right Wing News)

Updated to add: Christopher Taylor pointed me to this post in The Corner from a year ago. I can see why Bush signed this bill into law, it was an improvement over what was in place:

In August 1996 the Journal of the American Medical Association published an article describing procedures then in effect in Houston hospitals. Under these procedures, if a doctor wished to deny a patient lifesaving medical treatment and the patient or the patient's surrogate instead steadfastly expressed a desire for life, the doctor would submit the case to the hospital ethics committee. The patient or surrogate would be given 72 hours notice of the committee meeting would be allowed to plead for the patient's life at it. During that short 72 hour period, the patient or surrogate, while preparing to argue for life, could also try to find another health care provider willing to give the lifesaving treatment, food or fluids.

If the ethics committee decided for death, under these procedures there was no appeal. There was no provision that the food, fluids, or lifesaving treatment be provided after the decision while the patient or family tried to find another hospital willing to keep the patient alive.

So under these procedures, the hospitals in Houston were denying life-saving treatment, food and fluids against the wishes of patients and their families, when the hospital ethics committees said their quality of life was too poor. Patients and families were being given only 72 hours after being notified of the proposed denial to find another health care provider.

But I can't see why more hasn't been done, don't the Republicans hold a majority there?

Tags: Euthanasia, Texas Law, Texas Republicans, Bush