In Re T.A.C.P.

609 So.2d 588 (1992)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Ps, the parents of the child T.A.C.P. were informed that she would be born with anencephaly. Ps continued the pregnancy to term and agreed that the mother would undergo caesarean section in the hope that the infant's organs could be used for transplant in other sick children. Such a child typically is born with only a 'brain stem' but otherwise lacks a human brain. In T.A.C.P.'s case, the back of the skull was entirely missing and the brain stem was exposed to the air, except for medical bandaging. Anencephalic infants sometimes can survive several days after birth because the brain stem has a limited capacity to maintain autonomic bodily functions such as breathing and heartbeat. This ability soon ceases. T.A.C.P. actually survived only a few days after birth. T.A.C.P. was incapable of developing any sort of cognitive process, may have been unable to feel pain or experience sensation due to the absence of the upper brain, and at least for part of the time was placed on a mechanical ventilator to assist her breathing. At the time of the hearing, the child was breathing unaided, although she died soon thereafter. Ps requested that T.A.C.P. be declared legally dead but Ds refused out of concern that they thereby might incur civil or criminal liability. Ps filed a petition asking for a judicial determination. The court refused because the law would not permit a legal death so long as the child's brain stem continued to function. The appeals court affirmed but then certified the trial court's order for immediate resolution of the issue. The court certified the following issue: Is an anencephalic newborn considered 'dead' for purposes of organ donation solely by reason of its congenital deformity?