Vatican bioethicist says removing Schiavo's tube 'direct euthanasia'

Published: 2005-03-11

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Removing the feeding tube from Terri Schindler Schiavo, a brain-damaged Florida woman, or other patients in a similar condition amounts to "direct euthanasia," a "cruel way of killing someone," said the Vatican's top bioethicist. Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said the academy usually does not comment on specific cases before courts, but "silence in this case could be interpreted as approval." The bishop told Vatican Radio March 11 that withdrawing Schiavo's gastric tube would not be a matter of allowing her to die, but would "inflict death." Judge George W. Greer of Florida's Pinellas County Circuit Court ruled Feb. 25 that Michael Schiavo, Terri Schiavo's husband, could order doctors to remove the feeding tube March 18. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have opposed their son-in-law's efforts. Bishop Sgreccia spoke to Vatican Radio the day after Greer ruled the state's Department of Children and Families could not intervene in the process.

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