The Supreme Court this week refused to overturn a law that would disconnect a severely brain-damaged woman in Florida from her feeding tube.
The father of Terri Schiavo, the victim, criticized the decision as “judicial homicide.” However, the victim’s husband, Michael Schiavo, who has long stated that his wife never wanted to be kept alive artificially, commended the decision.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 after her heart temporarily stopped because of an eating disorder. She was 26 at the time and has been in a nursing home most of the time since.
The legal battle between the victim’s husband and her parents began in 1993. In 2003 Michael Schiavo won a court decision ordering that the feeding tube be removed. But it was reinserted six days later, after the Legislature passed “Terri’s Law.”
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that the law was an unconstitutional effort to override court rulings. The nation’s high court refused to disturb that decision. The case now goes back to state Judge George Greer, who already has ruled the feeding tube can be removed.
