In 1987, Jacqueline Gates’ life was forever altered by a tragic accident. Her ten-year-old daughter, Joelle Rosebush, was struck by a car while crossing the street with her siblings, Heather and Keith. As Joelle lay in a coma, the hospital exhausted all treatment options. She was then transferred to another facility, where she spent six months on a respirator in the pediatric intensive care unit. Over the course of eighteen agonizing months, Joelle remained in a vegetative state. With the emotional toll mounting, Gates and her family faced the heartbreaking decision to remove Joelle from life support, consulting with medical experts, a bioethics committee, a social worker, and their family priest. At that time, Michigan law did not permit parents to take such action.