( CNN ) -- The husband of a pregnant Texas woman -- who he says has been brain dead for seven weeks -- asked a court Tuesday to force a hospital to take her off a respirator , ventilator and other machines , saying her wishes should n't be disregarded just because she is pregnant . Erick Munoz filed an emergency motion as well as a complaint against John Peter Smith Hospital , both with the same goal : to have the hospital disconnect the machines so that her family can take her body and give her a proper burial . `` Marlise Munoz is legally dead , and to further conduct surgical procedures on a deceased body is nothing short of outrageous , '' her husband contends in the motion . Notably , officials at the Fort Worth , Texas , hospital where 33-year-old Marlise Munoz is have not publicly declared her dead ( though they have not disputed her husband 's assertions either ) . Erick Munoz -- like his wife , a paramedic by training -- said the doctors told him Marlise `` had lost all activity in her brain stem , '' and an accompanying chart stated she was `` brain dead , '' according to his lawsuit . The hospital referred requests for comment to the Tarrant County district attorney 's office , which said it will defend the medical facility against the lawsuit . It is legal counsel for John Peter Smith Hospital `` in a number of civil areas . '' Noting it first learned of the legal action just before noon Tuesday , the office said it `` will file a response in due course '' but wo n't have any further comment now `` because litigation is pending . '' Hospital spokesman J.R. Labbe said last month that doctors were simply trying to obey a Texas law that states that `` you can not withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment for a pregnant patient . '' And last week , Labbe told CNN that the hospital believed `` the courts are the appropriate venue to provide clarity , direction and resolution in this matter . '' Munoz 's husband responds by saying that `` Marlise can not possibly be a pregnant patient -- Marlise is dead . '' Furthermore , he argued that her wishes -- relayed , he said , in conversations but not in writing that she not be on `` life-sustaining '' measures when she is brain dead -- should n't be treated differently than a man or other woman simply because of her pregnancy . Mom of pregnant woman on life support : Change the law . `` Marlise has a fundamental right to make medical decisions regarding her own body , '' her husband contended in the motion . `` ... To take those rights away from Marlise , and force her to be subject to various medical procedures simply because she is pregnant , is a gross violation of her constitutional right . '' As the lawsuit details , the story began at 2 a.m. on November 26 , when Erick found his wife unconscious on the kitchen floor . At the time , she was 14 weeks ' pregnant with the couple 's second child . Soon after that , she was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital , where Erick Munoz claims he was told his wife `` was for all purposes brain dead . '' The family also says the fetus may have been deprived of oxygen . In the lawsuit , he claims subsequent measures taken at the hospital -- and , in turn , the state law used to justify them -- amount `` to nothing more than the cruel and obscene mutilation of a deceased body against the expressed will of the deceased and her family . '' `` Marlise Munoz 's death is a horrible and tragic circumstance , but by no means should ( the hospital ) be entitled to continue cutting into her deceased body in front of her husband and family under the guise of 'life-sustaining ' treatment , '' according to the lawsuit . Tom Mayo , a Southern Methodist University law professor who helped write the applicable Texas law , said he believes the hospital is misinterpreting it . `` She 's not a patient anymore , '' Mayo said . `` And so I do n't see how we can use a provision of the law that talks about treating or not treating a patient in a case where we really do n't have a patient . '' But Sunny Hostin , a CNN legal analyst , said that she thinks the state statute as written is `` ambiguous '' and `` vague . '' `` When you have these murky areas , you have to go to court , because courts provide clarity , courts provide direction , '' Hostin said . `` And that 's why I think the lawsuit is the right thing ... to jump to the conclusion . '' When 'life support ' is really 'death support ' CNN 's Elizabeth Landau and Ed Lavandera contributed to this report .
NEW : Analyst : Courts can `` provide clarity '' on a `` vague '' state statute . Marlise Munoz was 14 weeks ' pregnant when stricken ; hospital has said it must follow state law . Family argues Texas law on life-sustaining treatment for pregnant women does n't apply . Family : Munoz is brain-dead with no life to sustain ; calls treatment `` cruel and obscene mutilation ''