Gov. Bush Appeals Latest Schindler-Schiavo Ruling

By Dave Andrusko

Editor's note. As NRL News was going to press, the 2nd District Court of Appeals granted a motion from the husband of Terri Schindler-Schiavo to send her case directly to the Florida Supreme Court, bypassing a lower-court review. It is up to the Florida High Court whether to do so. "It can tell the lower court to hear it and issue a ruling before deciding whether to hear the matter," according to the Associated Press (AP).

Attorneys for Gov. Jeb Bush objected to fast-tracking the case. The week before the appeals court granted Michael Schiavo his motion, the governor's attorneys objected to sending the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court. They seek "permission to gather evidence in the case and want to have a trial on whether Terri Schiavo ever had expressed wishes not to be kept alive artificially, saying there were essential facts still in dispute," the AP reported.

In a separate matter the same day, June 1, Gov. Bush's attorneys asked the court of appeals to stop the proceedings while Terri's parents challenge Michael Schiavo's handling of Terri's care.

Continuing a largely disappointing string of court decisions, a Florida judge last month struck down a state law that had empowered Gov. Jeb Bush to have reinserted the feeding tube through which Terri Schindler-Schiavo receives her only nourishment. However, Gov. Bush's office immediately appealed the decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which means that Terri will be fed while the legal wrangling goes forward.

Referring to the May 5 decision, Pat Anderson, a lawyer for Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, told the Miami Herald that she was "not surprised, but, of course disappointed."

Pinellas County Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird concluded that "Terri's Law" violated the state Constitution. He handed down the ruling the day before Bush's attorneys were initially scheduled to depose their first witness. Terri's fate is embroiled in an extended, ever-more-acrimonious battle between the Schindlers and Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, now in its sixth year. According to the Associated Press, the case has "encompassed at least 20 judges in at least six different courts" and has drawn international attention.

The primary bones of contention are her medical condition and Terri's wishes. Michael Schiavo contends that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), and that, based on conversations she'd had prior to her collapse in 1990, would "not want to be kept alive with no hope of recovery," according to the Tampa Tribune.

Bob and Mary Schindler vigorously deny she is in a PVS and "have testified [along with medical experts] she might respond well to experimental treatments," the Tribune reported. Along with other witnesses, the Schindlers flatly deny that Terri had said anything that would indicate she would not wish to be fed and hydrated.

In a scathing 23-page decision, Baird asserted the law fails on two grounds. It violates the Florida Constitution, he wrote, because it hinders Terri Schindler-Schiavo's right to privacy and it infringes upon the constitutionally mandated separation of powers.

"The Act, in every instance, ignores the existence of this right and authorizes the Governor to act according to his personal discretion," Baird wrote. "By substituting the personal judgment of the Governor for that of the patient, the Act deprives every individual who is subject to its terms of his or her constitutionally guaranteed right to the privacy of his or her own medical decisions."

Bush's attorney, Kenneth L. Connor, said he was "not surprised" by Baird's ruling. "Judge Baird had made a public pronouncement before the case was filed that the law was unconstitutional," Connor told the Florida Baptist Witness. "He telegraphed his views of the statute before the governor even was permitted to plead."

Connor insisted that the courts don't have an "exclusive monopoly" when it comes to protecting people like Terri. The legislature's and Governor's actions were necessary, Connor told the Florida Baptist Witness, after Michael Schiavo, "a man with a clear conflict of interest," was granted his wish to have her feeding tube pulled.

The law overturned by Judge Baird was passed the night of October 21, 2003, in an extraordinary 11th hour act of courage by the Florida legislature. The measure empowered Bush to issue an executive order that provided for the reinsertion of Terri's feeding tube, which had been pulled six days earlier. At the time predictions were that Terri would die of starvation and dehydration within 7-10 days.

Connor told the Florida Baptist Witness that Gov. Bush wished to afford Terri with another "layer of protection."

"The circuit court didn't even afford her the benefit of a guardian ad litem," Connor said. "We think the judge is dead wrong in his assessment that the state doesn't have a compelling interest that outweighs the encroachment on the so-called privacy right. We couldn't disagree more."

Schindler family attorney Pat Anderson is fighting on a number of fronts. She has repeatedly challenged Michael Schiavo's fitness as Terri's guardian. As part of the latest phase of that battle, Anderson alleges that since April 26, Terri had been kept in "isolation" and has been prevented from receiving Communion on Easter and has not been allowed to see her priest, according to the Florida Baptist Witness.

The acrimony reached new levels when Michael Schiavo barred visits from the Schindlers for two months. Pinellas-Pasco Judge George Greer finally said he would allow a 90-minute visit for the Schindlers and Mrs. Schiavo's brother and sister. "The judge said the visit 'need not be supervised,'" the St. Petersburg Times reported.

Referring to a recent statement issued by Pope John Paul II, announcing it is "morally obligatory" to continue artificial nutrition and hydration for people in a persistent vegetative state, Anderson said she is mulling over the implications of that statement for Terri Schiavo," the Florida Baptist Witness reported.

"The Pope did everything but put her name on that speech," Anderson said. Bob Schindler agreed.

"We totally respect the Pope's opinions," Schindler told the Florida Baptist Witness. "Although we don't need the Pope to tell us that we have to respect life, we listen to what the Pope says."

Connor said the implications of the determination of this case are more far reaching than most might imagine. "There is a tremendous amount at stake in this case," Connor said. "Are we going to be able to dispose of the weak and the frail and vulnerable because they are inconvenient and their quality of life is diminished?

"Are we going to be sure that we can provide adequate safeguards for their protection?" Connor asked. "This case not only is about the sanctity of human life but about the role of various branches of government in protecting the right to life."