Feeding must continue for Florida woman - court

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A Florida court ordered on Tuesday that a severely brain-damaged woman must continue to be fed, shortly after an appeals court said her husband could remove the feeding tube that has kept her alive since 1990.

In the latest in a string of back-and-forth rulings, Circuit Judge George Greer stayed the removal of the feeding tube until at least 5 p.m. on Wednesday, allowing time for a hearing to address new issues in the bitterly fought case over the fate of Theresa “Terri” Schiavo.

Greer issued the new stay shortly after Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal allowed the expiration of a stay that had kept the feeding tube in place during a long legal battle.

Some doctors say Schiavo, 41, has been in a persistent vegetative state since suffering a heart attack that starved her brain of oxygen 15 years ago.

Her husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, says his wife had told him she would not want to continue living in such a condition and he won court permission to remove the feeding tube.

“This case is about Terri’s wishes,” said Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos.

His wife’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, say their daughter could improve with treatment and have fought to keep her alive.

The husband and the parents have battled each other in court for seven years and the case has become a rallying point for right-to-life activists, advocates for the disabled and proponents of the right to die.

The hearing on Wednesday is to consider the Schindlers’ latest request to continue the feeding and conduct additional tests to determine whether Terri Schiavo has cognitive function.

Standing outside the hospice where she is being cared for, Robert Schindler said he would plead with Florida’s governor and legislature to intervene “to save Terri from being murdered in cold blood.”

The legislature does not begin its annual session until March 8. Gov. Jeb Bush, the brother of President Bush, has said he believes Schiavo should be kept alive but lacks authority under current law.

Schiavo’s parents remained hopeful that lawmakers would act, family spokesman Randall Terry said in Tallahassee.

“We had a miracle before and we’re looking for a miracle this time,” Terry said. “We know for sure that Terri will not be starved today and she will not be starved tomorrow.”

Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed in October 2003, but the Florida Legislature passed a special law giving the governor authority to have it reinserted. The Florida Supreme Court ruled last year the law violated the constitutional separation of powers among the executive, judicial and legislative branches of government.

The feeding tube was also removed in 2001 and reinserted shortly afterward under a court order.

The U.S. Supreme Court has twice declined to intervene in the case, most recently in January. 

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