Schiavo case goes to high court

The couple wants Florida's justices to block the removal of her feeding tube.

By ANITA KUMAR

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 31, 2001

The parents of a woman whose right-to-die case has drawn national publicity is asking the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court's decision that allows the removal of their daughter's feeding tube.

Bob and Mary Schindler filed a motion with the Supreme Court on Friday, asking justices to take up Terri Schiavo's case even though they are not obligated to do so.

The St. Petersburg couple wants to stop their son-in-law, Michael, from removing life support from Mrs. Schiavo, who sustained brain damage 11 years ago. Schiavo has court permission to remove the feeding tube April 20.

The Schindlers' attorney, Joseph Magri, lists three reasons why the court has the authority to consider the case: It involves Mrs. Schiavo's right to privacy, right to enjoy and defend life and liberty and to pursue happiness; affects all Florida judges; and conflicts with a previous Supreme Court decision.

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said Friday he had only had time to glance at the request but did not see a reason for the court to consider the case, only a rehashing of facts already considered by lower courts. Felos has 25 days to file a response.

The Schindlers have been feuding with their son-in-law since 1993 and are vehemently opposed to removing their daughter's feeding tube, saying she would starve to death.

Mrs. Schiavo, who has spent 11 years in a vegetative state, would die one to two weeks after her tube was removed, her doctors say.

After an emotional trial last year, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer agreed with Michael Schiavo that Mrs. Schiavo would not want her life extended by a feeding tube. That decision was upheld by the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland last month.

Mrs. Schiavo, now 37, collapsed at her St. Petersburg home on Feb. 25, 1990. Her heart stopped beating, and she was deprived of oxygen for five minutes.

Doctors say she is unaware of what is happening around her. But her parents dispute that, saying she responds to sounds and sights.

The Schindlers and Schiavo have accused each other of trying to control Mrs. Schiavo's fate to get $700,000 she received in 1993 from a malpractice suit.

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