Courtland Kristoferson / Chenault Law
CV NEWS FEED // A Texas lawyer has requested a permanent injunction against a disabled woman’s parents, who recently announced that they were planning to take their daughter off of artificial nutrition and hydration and place her in hospice, according to a court document that LifeSite News obtained.
Texas-based attorney Courtland Kristoferson requested the permanent injunction against Catherine and Michael Naranjo on behalf of their daughter Margarat (Margo) on July 19 in Probate Court No. 1 of Denton County, Texas, according to LifeSite News.
Kristoferson is Margo’s attorney and guardian ad litem. He is a founding member of the Van Sickle Family Law Clinic, which offered “pro bono legal services related to family law matters for indigent members of the community,” according to Kristoferson’s webpage.
According to the July 19 court document, Margo has communicated by way of a “yes” or “no” system with her home health workers that she wants to live and does not want to be taken off of artificial nutrition and hydration.
The court document also states that the home health workers “have represented that [Margo] is in good condition and that her health has not declined or deteriorated to the point hospice treatment is necessary.”
“Despite that,” the document states, “the Co-Guardians have placed her on hospice.”
The document states that if Catherine and Michael Naranjo and “any person providing medical care” to Margo are “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.”
Michael recently announced in a now-unavailable Facebook post that he and Catherine received a temporary restraining order on July 19 against removing the artificial nutrition and hydration, according to a July 24 LifeSite News report. Michael also said that he and Catherine have temporarily lost guardianship of Margo, who has been put back on her regular nutritional schedule.
In 2020, a pickup truck ran a red light and crashed into Margo’s vehicle, leaving Margo with serious injuries, including brain damage. Her family has since led public prayers almost daily for Margo’s healing.
On July 7, Catherine Naranjo announced in a now-unavailable Facebook livestream, according to a LifeSite News article, “that after years of little to no improvement in their daughter’s condition, the family had decided ‘to go ahead and take her off life support.'” Catherine explained that the “life support” Margo would be removed from was artificial nutrition and hydration.
Catherine also explained in the video that in Texas, artificial nutrition and hydration “is considered a form of life support,” adding, “It is ethical and legal to remove it in situations like this.”
A pre-scheduled funeral for Margo on Aug. 2 at a Catholic parish in Texas is no longer set to take place. The funeral reportedly was canceled after the parish learned that Margo was not dying. Catholic journalist Christine Niles wrote on X on July 25 that along with the cancelation, the parish priest reached out to the Naranjos to pray with them and instruct them on the Church’s teachings regarding euthanasia and assisted suicide.
