The feeding tube for Terri Schiavo was disconnected March 18 in spite of extraordinary efforts by Congress.
Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer gave the go-ahead for the removal of the severely brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube, dashing the hopes of her supporters that congressional subpoenas would sway the judge.
Greer made his decision during a conference call with congressional lawyers, as well as lawyers for both Michael Schiavo – Terri’s husband and legal guardian – and her parents.
Earlier in the day, congressional leaders had issued subpoenas with the goal of keeping the 41-year-old Florida woman’s tube in place. If there is no legislative or judicial intervention to reattach the tube, Schiavo is expected to die from starvation and dehydration in a week to two weeks.
Terri Schiavo has been at the center of a legal dispute that pits her parents against her husband and many religious conservatives against Florida’s court system. She has been in what court-appointed doctors have described as a “persistent vegetative state” since collapsing from a then-undiagnosed illness 15 years ago and suffering brain damage. Michael Schiavo has said his wife made clear to him before her illness that she would not want to live in such a state. However, she left no written record of her intentions.
Terri Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, maintain their daughter can be rehabilitated and responds to some stimuli – which many doctors dispute. They have fought for her to remain alive.
(BP, ABP)
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