In re T.A.C.P.

KOGAN, Justice.

We have for review an order of the trial court certified by the Fourth District Court of Appeal as touching on a matter of great public importance requiring immediate resolution by this Court. We frame the issue as follows:1

Is an anencephalic newborn considered “dead” for purposes of organ donation solely by reason of its congenital deformity?

We have jurisdiction.2 Art. V, § 3(b)(5), Fla. Const.

I. Facts

At or about the eighth month of pregnancy, the parents of the child T.A.C.P. were informed that she would be born with anencephaly. This is a birth defect invariably fatal,3 in…