Judge overturns feeding tube law; court battles likely to continue

Published: 2004-05-12

CLEARWATER, Fla. (CNS) -- Despite a Florida judge's May 6 ruling overturning Terri's Law as "unjustifiable state interference" with constitutionally protected privacy rights, the court battles over brain-damaged Terri Schindler Schiavo's feeding tube were likely to continue. Schiavo, 40, was left brain-damaged in 1990 after a heart stoppage and has received nutrition and hydration through a feeding tube. But her estranged husband, Michael, has been battling in court to have the feeding tube removed, saying that Terri would not want to be kept alive artificially. On Oct. 21, 2003, six days after Terri Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed, the Florida Legislature approved a bill allowing Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to issue an executive order that tube-feeding be resumed. That occurred shortly afterward. In his May 6 decision, Pinellas Circuit Court Judge W. Douglas Baird of Clearwater said the Florida Constitution "guarantees to every citizen the right to be the master of his or her own personal private medical decisions."

Copyright (c) 2004 Catholic News Service /U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service .