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Governor to take Schiavo case to U.S. High Court

October 23 , 2004
Tampa Tribune
By David Sommer

CLEARWATER - Both Gov. Jeb Bush and Terri Schiavo's parents will pursue appeals aimed at keeping the brain-damaged woman alive, their attorneys said Friday after the second in a pair of courtroom defeats.
Bush will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to restore the balance of power between Florida's judicial branch and the legislative and executive branches, attorney Ken Connor said.

``This case is not only about Terri Schiavo, but also about the role of the courts and the Legislature and the governor,'' he said.

``Who is going to be the chief architect of policy in this state?'' Connor asked. ``The largely unelected judiciary or the elected branches with the most accountability?''

Also Friday, a day after Florida's highest court refused to revisit the constitutionality of a measure dubbed ``Terri's Law'' that allowed Bush to intervene in what had been a family dispute, Bush asked the Florida Supreme Court to block Michael Schiavo from removing his wife's feeding tube while the U.S. Supreme Court is asked to review the case.

Connor said he did that in response to a letter Schiavo attorney George Felos sent to a local judge stating his client intended to remove the feeding tube as early as Friday.

The recipient of that letter, Circuit Judge George Greer, issued his own stay Friday without being asked.

Greer ordered Schiavo not to touch the feeding tube until midnight Dec. 6. He said he did so to allow the Schindlers time to appeal another order Greer issued Friday denying them a new trial regarding their daughter's wishes.

Bob Schindler said he and his wife, Mary, will ask the 2nd District Court of Appeal to allow them to present evidence that a March pronouncement by Pope John Paul II would have changed their daughter's mind - if indeed she did not want to be kept alive in her condition - about being kept alive as she is.

Felos said Greer gave the Schindlers too much time.

``Delaying this for another seven weeks serves no constructive purpose whatsoever,'' Felos said. ``Every credible issue in this case has been gone over again and again.''

The Schindlers and their son-in-law have been locked in a bitter legal dispute over Terri Schiavo's wishes.

Michael Schiavo contends his wife made statements prior to her January 1990 heart failure, at age 26, indicating she would never want to be kept alive by artificial means.

Doctors hired by Michael Schiavo say his wife is in a persistent vegetative state after her brain was destroyed by a lack of oxygen. She cannot swallow and can only be kept alive with the help of a feeding tube inserted into her stomach, Schiavo's doctors say.

The Schindlers contend their daughter reacts to them and could improve with therapy. Their doctors say she could learn to swallow and might not need the feeding tube.

After a January 2000 trial, Greer ruled Terri Schiavo would not want to be kept alive with no hope of improvement. After a second trial, in 2002, he ruled credible medical evidence shows Terri Schiavo will never improve or learn to swallow.

Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed twice with Greer's permission, only to be reinserted. In October 2003, after the tube was removed the second time, Bush ordered that feeding resume after the Legislature passed the measure dubbed Terri's Law.

Last Month, the Florida Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a lower court finding that Terri's Law is unconstitutional for several reasons. The high court specifically cited the separation of powers doctrine that bars lawmakers from making laws to change court rulings.

Bush contends he should have been allowed his own trial on Terri Schiavo's wishes and her husband's possible motives for wanting her feeding tube removed. Michael Schiavo is engaged to another woman, has fathered two children with her, and has refused requests from the Schindlers to divorce their daughter and relinquish guardianship.

The Schindlers repeatedly have asked their church to intervene.

In March, after a Vatican congress on how to treat people in a persistent vegetative state, the pope said such people always should be provided nourishment. To do otherwise would be an act of euthanasia and contrary to church teaching, he said. The pope made no mention of Terri Schiavo.

In his ruling Friday denying the Schindlers a new trial, Greer cited an opinion from the 2nd District Court of Appeal stating Terri Schiavo ``was raised in the Catholic faith, but did not regularly attend Mass or have a religious advisor who could assist the court in weighing her religious attitude about life support.''