Subject: Urgent Call for Pastoral Leadership to Protect Life – Ending the Texas Advance Directives Act
Dear Pastor Riggle,
I write to you as both a sister in Christ and a long-time member of Grace Encourager Church for over fifteen years. I have served the Lord faithfully for twenty-three years as a licensed Christian minister, never looking back. Today, I am appealing to you in your role as Interim President of the Texas Pastor Council and U.S. Pastor Council, as well as President of Grace International, to lead with the courage and conviction that our times demand.
The biblical value of life is not negotiable. Every human being is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27), and the sanctity of life must be protected from conception until natural death. No legislation, hospital policy, or government directive should have the authority to override the God-given worth of a life, particularly when family and loved ones are standing in defense of that life.
On November 9, 2022, my family entered a nightmare that began with the fentanyl crisis. This crisis left my son Jeffrey full of promise and faith critically ill with Severe Anoxic brain damage and eventually in the ICU at Methodist Hospital Medical Center. Over five weeks, we endured relentless pressure, harassment, emotional manipulation, intimidation, and mental abuse from doctors, case manager, ethic committee and even a mediator. The goal was clear: To secure our consent, or bypass it entirely, to disconnect Jeffrey from life support.
Under the Texas Advance Directives Act of 1999, hospitals in Texas are empowered to unilaterally suspend life-sustaining treatment after a brief process, even when the patient’s legal decision-makers object, in his case, I was Jeffrey’s Surrogate decision made by the hospital. This is nothing short of state-sanctioned authority to end life against the will of the family.
Our son was even classified within one of the two most controversial categories in the national organ donation process: Bran Death or Donation after Circulatory Death (DCD). We were told his EEG showed “no activity,” however in our particular case, Jeffrey was not even declared brain death, but no activity. Their position was about “his quality of life” a medical position and statement that has gain popularity among ICU physicians and nurses. But when my husband George and I demanded the sedation be lowered, Jeffrey began waking up showing clear awareness, following commands, and making voluntary movements. Yet neurologists persisted in claiming these were only involuntary reflexes.
By God’s mercy, we kept Jeffrey alive despite their efforts. His story is living proof that the socalled “certainty” of brain death (or no activity) can be misdiagnosed, and that Texas law leaves families defenseless when their loved one’s life hangs in the balance.
On the first week of July 2025, we did an interview with world renowned Dr. Cindy Ivanhoe from TIRR. She is a physiatrist, double boarded of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and Brain Injury medicine, she is being in the field of Brain Neurological disorders for many decades including Spasticity and Movement Disorders. This was part of her comments in our exclusive interview she gave us for a new film based on Jeffrey’s recovery from a Severe Anoxic Brain Damage. “Imagine is a snapshot on time, it does not tell function, it does not tell function of the brain per se. It does not consider at all the social determinants of health (SDOH) are the non-medical conditions that affect people's health, well-being, and quality of life. Do you have a mother that will fight for every inch of your care…a CT-Scan is just a snapshot, I can take a picture of you smiling and does not mean you are always happy.”
Pastor Riggle, the national scandal surrounding organ donation protocols particularly in cases of brain death and DCD, makes this matter urgent. We cannot allow the Texas Advance Directives Act to continue granting hospitals the unilateral right to disconnect patients over the objections of their legal advocates. Texas Right to Life helped us in Jeffrey’s case giving us advance and calling Case Manager. This organization has tried for years to end ADVANCE DIRECTIVES ACT in Texas.
I am asking you to mobilize the Texas Pastor Council and U.S. Pastor Council in a unified call to repeal or fundamentally rewrite this law, ensuring that no patient can be denied lifesustaining treatment without the consent of those legally entrusted with their care. This is a moral, spiritual, and human rights issue.
The church must lead on this front. Silence would make us complicit. I am ready to meet with you or your team, present the evidence we have gathered, and work alongside you in bringing this to the attention of every Texas legislator and pastor.
My husband George and I passionately believe this is an hour in which God is calling the shepherds of His people to stand in the gap for the vulnerable (Ezekiel 22:30). Let us not fail Him, or them.
In Christ,
Jessica Varian
832-528-9100
Licensed Christian Minister
Founder, Jeffrey’s Journey & Legacy
Jessicavarian3@gmail.com
https://jeffreysjourneyandlegacy.org/en
