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Terri Schiavo Revisited Changing legislation and a strange judicial order As I wrote earlier, I had not paid much attention to the Terri Schiavo case until the last couple of weeks. Briefly, she collapsed in 1990 - the causes are debated - but she had a heart attack that caused brain damage. She is not on what is generally considered life support and she is not terminally ill. But her husband wants to stop feeding and hydrating her in order for her to die. He says she once commented that she would not want to be on life support. She did not have a living will. There are a couple of things that bother me. First, they changed the law in the middle of this. Terri collapsed in 1990. After she was awarded a settlement in a lawsuit, in 1998 her husband moved her to a Hospice and filed a lawsuit to stop feeding her. The media frequently refers to "remove her feeding tube" but I don't think that's medically accurate anymore. In April, 1999, after the Schiavo lawsuit was filed, House Bill 2131 was introduced into the Florida Legislature. It amended Section 765.101 of Florida Statutes to read: "Life-prolonging procedure" means any medical procedure, treatment, or intervention, including artificially provided sustenance and hydration, which sustains, restores, or supplants a spontaneous vital function. (emphasis added) The new bill became law in October, 1999, and Judge George Greer applied the new law to Terri's case in 2000, changing an important definition after the fact. Suppose Terri had a living will that said she was not to receive "life prolonging procedures." After 1990, she would, of course, have lacked the mental capacity to change her living will. Then in 1999, the Florida Legislature amends the definition of "life prolonging procedure" to include something not anticipated in 1990. Then a judge applies the new, amended law to her case. How can anyone make a valid living will that is dependent on the vagarietes of a future Florida Legislature? Additionally, Jacksonville radio talk show host David Allen has been doing some research into just who had the legislature change Florida's law. It seems one of the legislators on the committee, Gus Bilirakis, says on his web site that he is a director of the Hospice where Terri is housed, but that is not disclosed on any of the filings with the state Division of Corporations. Another director is mentioned in those same filings from 1997 through 2001 - none other than George Felos - Michael Schiavo's lawyer in this case. And another strange twist is the wording of Judge Greer's most recent order which requires Terri's guardian to kill her. Sue Bob's Diary discusses the order in detail.
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