Woman at Center of Fla. Euthanasia Case Hospitalized
By Jeff Johnson
CNSNews.com Congressional Bureau Chief
August 15, 2003
Capitol Hill (CNSNews.com) - A 39-year-old disabled Florida woman, who is the focus of an on-going euthanasia battle pitting her husband against her parents and siblings, was admitted to a hospital Wednesday due to an undisclosed medical emergency.
Terri Schindler Schiavo's parents claimed Friday that her husband is in violation of a court order for not notifying them of the change in her condition.
Bob and Mary Schindler said they did not learn until late Thursday that their daughter, Terri, had been moved from the hospice where her husband, Michael Schiavo, had been keeping her to the Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater, Fla.
A spokeswoman for the family claimed in a press release that Michael Schiavo's failure to notify Terri's parents was illegal.
"There is a 1996 Court Order filed in the Circuit Court for Pinellas County that requires [that] he notify Terri's parents in the event of a change in medical condition," said Pamela Hennessy, the volunteer media coordinator for the family. "Thus far, this order is being ignored."
Hennessy also suspected that Michael Schiavo had given strict instructions to the hospital's staff, "not to disclose Terri's medical condition to her parents" because no information is available about the reason for her admission through the hospital's emergency department.
Michael Schiavo and Terri Schindler Schiavo's family have been involved in court battle for more than a decade over the husband's desire to remove his wife's feeding tube, which will result in her death by starvation and/or dehydration.
The woman's parents and siblings argue that her brain damage and the resulting disabilities, which occurred in 1990 under questionable circumstances, should be treated. While she must have a feeding tube for nourishment and hydration, Terri does not require a respirator or other extraordinary measures to keep her alive.
Although more than a dozen physicians have agreed that Terri's condition should improve with treatment, Michael Schiavo has been providing only maintenance care for his wife since receiving an insurance award that provided $300,000 to him for lost companionship and $700,000 to provide for his wife's medical care and rehabilitation.
At one point, a court overruled his demand that his wife not be treated for an infection that could have been fatal.
Michael Schiavo is currently living with another woman with whom he has had a child, though he is still legally married to Terri. He, his brother and sister-in-law claim Terri had expressed a desire not to be kept alive artificially should she ever be severely injured.
Two Florida courts have accepted their hearsay testimony, though there is no written record of Terri Schindler Schiavo ever making such a request.
George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, was not immediately available for comment.