10- Year Anniversary of Florida Intervention in Schiavo Case

Tomorrow is the 10th anniversary of Florida's intervention in the Schiavo case.  (HT: ABA Journal)



In 1998, after eight years watching his wife Terri in a persistent vegetative state, Michael Schiavo petitioned a Florida court to remove her feeding tubes.  But Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, objected, starting a battle that endured for more than a decade.



Under a court order to do so, doctors first removed Schiavo’s feeding tubes in April 2001.  Two days later, a different court ordered them reinserted.  After many more rounds in various courts, on Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003, the tubes were removed again. 



Public officials initially expressed reluctance to intrude into a private family affair.  But wide-scale public pressure prompted Florida legislators to act.  Gov. Jeb Bush added the issue to a special session of the Florida legislature.  After two days lawmakers produced a short bill that applied only to Schiavo.  On Oct. 20 at 10:10 p.m., the Florida House passed the bill with no legal analysis or committee hearings.  The Senate approved it 17 hours later, and at 4:30 p.m. Bush signed it into law.  Two hours later, state officials removed Schiavo from her hospice to a Clearwater hospital, where feeding tubes were reinserted.



Nearly a year later, a unanimous Florida Supreme Court declared “Terri’s Law” an unconstitutional violation of separation of powers.  The Schindlers sought federal intervention and received a sympathetic response on Capitol Hill.  Subpoenas were issued.  A bill granting federal jurisdiction was passed.  Court challenges were filed. But the results proved the same.  After the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Atlanta denied all appeals, Schiavo’s feeding tubes were removed for the third and final time. 



On March 31, 2005, 13 days after the tubes were removed—more than 15 years after she was stricken—Terri Schiavo died.