TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court declined a request for a re-hearing in the Terri Schiavo case Oct. 21, moving the 40-year-old disabled woman one step closer to a death by starvation.
Without comment the seven justices declined a request from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to reconsider their Sept. 23 decision in which they overturned a law that had kept the woman alive. In that decision the high court ruled that a law allowing the governor to order the resumption of Schiavo’s feeding and hydration tube was unconstitutional. The Florida Legislature had passed the law last October, reversing a lower court’s ruling ordering the removal of Schiavo’s tube.
“We are disappointed with the ruling and are reviewing our legal options,” Jill Bratina, Bush’s spokeswoman, told the Associated Press.
An appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is possible. In addition, Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, are pushing for a re-hearing of a trial in a lower court, arguing that Schiavo would want to adhere to Pope John Paul II’s pro-life teaching. Schiavo is Catholic.
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