WASHINGTON -- Last week the U.S. Congress voted to try to save, at least temporarily, the life of Terri Schiavo, who otherwise would slowly starve to death at the hospice in the state of Florida in which she is confined.
Terri collapsed in 1990, leaving her profoundly cognitively disabled. Michael Schiavo, her husband, won a $1.3 million medical malpractice judgment that included money for her care, which he subsequently refused to fund. Along the way he moved in with a woman and had two children. Seven years ago he petitioned the court to remove Terri's feeding tube. He was finally freed to do so March 18 under a state court order.
Last week President George W. Bush signed emergency legislation allowing the federal courts to review the case. But the effort to reinsert Terri's feeding tube has been rebuffed, so far, by the federal courts. She had been expected to live a week or two after the tube's removal. Nothing about the case is simple; the issues involve: