A big victory came in federal court today for 10-year-old Sarah Murnaghan, a dying girl in need of a lung transplant.
This afternoon, Judge Michael Baylson granted the Murnaghan family's request for a temporary restraining order, telling the Secretary of Health and Human Services to cease application of the "Under 12" rule when it comes to Sarah.
The 10-year-old Newtown Square, Pa. girl has been hospitalized at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia for three months with end-stage cystic fibrosis.
The temporary restraining order will last for 10 days. A preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for June 14.
"For us, this means that for the next 10 days, Sarah’s placement in the queue for adult lungs will be based on the severity of her illness, and she will not be penalized for her age," the Murnaghan family said in a statement. "We are experiencing many emotions: relief, happiness, gratitude and, for the first time in months: hope."
Earlier today, Sarah's parents filed the emergency motion, in an effort to prevent Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius from enforcing a policy that prevents children under the age of 12 from getting a lung transplant from an adult donor until after adults in need.
“We will not stand by and let Sarah die and we have filed in federal court for an immediate injunction to do what Secretary Sebelius will not: give Sarah and other children in her position a fair chance at life," said Janet Murnaghan, Sarah's mother.
Yesterday, Secretary Sebelius spoke about Sarah's case before a congressional committee, saying she can't intervene in transplant decisions.
Sebelius says those decisions should be made by medical experts and mentioned there are three other children at Children's Hospital who are just as sick.
The judge said in court today that he would consider a temporary restraining order for any other child in similar circumstances in the same judicial district, who bring their case to court.
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