TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (ABP) – The Florida Supreme Court ruled Sept 23 that the law passed to restore Terri Schiavo's feeding tube is unconstitutional and violates the separation of powers between the judicial, legislative and executive branches of the state government.
“Terri's Law,” passed by the Florida legislature in 2003 and immediately signed into law by Gov. Jeb Bush, allowed Bush to override a lower court's decision that Schiavo's husband, Michael, could have the tube removed, presumably allowing Terri Schiavo to die. In its unanimous ruling, the state's highest court said the Florida legislature improperly delegated power to the governor.
''We recognize the tragic circumstances underlying this case make it difficult to put emotions aside and focus solely on the legal issue presented,'' wrote Chief Justice Barbara Pariente, who authored the opinion. “We are not insensitive to the struggle that all members of [Schiavo's] family have endured since she fell unconscious in 1990. However, we are a nation of laws and we must govern our decisions by the rule of law and not by our own emotions.''
Schiavo has been in what doctors have described as a “permanent vegetative state” since 1990, when she collapsed and suffered subsequent brain damage as a result of a previously undiagnosed medical condition.
In 1998, Michael Schiavo began legal proceedings to have his wife's feeding tube removed. He claimed she had told him previously that she would not want to be kept alive in such a state, and in Florida a person's wishes must be honored even if they are expressed only orally. But Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have opposed his efforts, arguing that she can be rehabilitated and shows signs of consciousness.
Nonetheless, last year a court-appointed doctor agreed that Schiavo's condition is irreversible, and a state court granted permission for the feeding tube to be removed, which was done in October 2003.
However, the Schindlers and their allies convinced state legislators to pass an emergency law that gave Bush the authority to override the courts and have Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted. Supporters dubbed it “Terri's Law,” and immediately following Bush's signing of the bill, he ordered her nourishment to be restored. Schiavo is still alive in a Clearwater nursing home.
It was not immediately clear whether Bush will go to federal court to attempt to appeal the ruling by the state Supreme Court, or how soon Terri Schiavo's feeding tube might be removed. The court did give each side in the dispute 10 days to ask for a rehearing in the case.
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