Court Order Keeping Schiavo Alive to Expire Today
The decade-long fight to save the life of a severely brain-damaged Florida woman has reached yet another climactic point, as a judge refused Monday to halt a court order that will allow the removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube.
The decade-long fight to save the life of a severely brain-damaged Florida woman has reached yet another climactic point, as a judge refused Monday to halt a court order that will allow the removal of her life-sustaining feeding tube.
Terri Schiavo, whose right-to-life case has touched the hearts of millions of Americans in the past years, may have her feeding tube removed by 1pm today, upon the request of her husband, Michael.
Michael, who fathered two children with his live-in girlfriend, is the legal guardian of Terri, who has been on a feeding tube since she collapsed 15 years ago.
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Terri’s parents, the Schindlers, have been in a near ten-year battle against her husband to keep her alive.
In the most recent court battle, the Schindlers asked the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland to block a previous order to remove Terri’s tube from taking effect today, but the court declined on Monday.
Michael’s attorney explained that as soon as the Lakewland court issues the order, his client has the full authority to remove the feeding tube from his wife.
"I will not comment on the mechanism, but it's fair to say the tube will come out as soon as the mandate is issued," said attorney George Felos on Monday.
The last time Mr. Schiavo succeeded in removing the tube, Terri was staved for six days. At that time, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ordered the tube reinserted until the Legislature created a law to prevent its removal. The law was deemed unconstitutional by the Florida State Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case in January.
The Schindlers have since then appealed on religious grounds, saying that as a Roman Catholic, Terri would not have wished to have her tube removed after Pope John Paul’s recent declaration that removing nutrition and hydration from people such as herself is assisted suicide.
Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer, who ordered the removal of Terri’s tube, rejected the argument, but issued a stay on the starvation, pending the Schinders’ appeal of his decision to the Second District Court of Appeal.
On Wednesday, the Schindlers will ask Greer for an emergency stay until they can make an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Therefore, even if Terri’s feeding tube is removed, it will likely be for no more than a 24-hour window of time between the 1pm mandate and the Wednesday hearing.
"Terri is very strong. She has a will to live," said David Gibbs III, the Schindlers’ lawyer, during a news conference in front of the Clearwater courthouse. "Physically, Terri will withstand that, but I think that it would be unbelievably cruel for the guardian to do that."
Gibbs also said he plans to file a motion on Wednesday to stop the tube’s removal in light of the recent medical advances for the brain damaged.
