Fighting Over Terri Schiavo: Her Husband, Her Parents, the Three Branches of Government -- All Want a Say

The much-discussed Terri Schiavo case does more than expose disagreement among the American people; it reveals tensions among the three branches of government - the executive, the legislative, and the judicial.

The Constitution dictates that the courts should decide individual cases, including matters of life and death.

However, both the executive and legislative branches have become enmeshed in the case, possibly threatening the balance of power in the government.

Nevertheless, the judicial branch has fought to maintain authority over the case, throughout the controversial interventions of both the Congress and the White House.

In case you haven’t heard -- the Terri Schiavo case

Terry Schiavo has been severely brain-damaged since her heart suddenly stopped in 1990. For the last 15 years, Mrs. Schiavo has been unable to speak or move, and most doctors who have examined her say that she is in a persistent vegetative state, which means she has no emotions or thoughts.

However, that claim is disputed by Mrs. Schiavo’s parents, Mary and Robert Schindler, and a few doctors whom they have enlisted in their struggle to keep her alive. They say that she can smile, swallow, and recognize her relatives.

Terri Schiavo’s husband Michael has fought to have his wife’s feeding tube removed; he says that she would not want to continue to live in a vegetative state and that she informed him of her wishes during their marriage. However, Mrs. Schiavo has no living will.

Despite the pleas of Terri Schiavo’s parents, the courts ordered doctors to remove the feeding tube that has sustained her. The courts’ rulings are in accordance with state and federal laws that allow the next of kin, in this case, the husband, to decide.

The Schindler’s have fought the decision, and the case has gone from state courts through legislatures to the Supreme Court and back.

The Terry Schiavo Case - a flow chart

The case begins in a Florida Trial Court, which orders Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube removed.

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The Schindlers appeal this decision, but it is upheld by the Second District Court of Appeals.

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The Florida State Legislature passes a law that gives Governor Jeb Bush the power of executive order to have the feeding tube reinserted. This is the first time that the executive branch intervenes in the case.

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The Pinellas Circuit Court overturns this law, declaring it unconstitutional; this allows the judiciary to reassert its jurisdiction over the case.

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The U.S. Congress passes and President Bush signs a law that allows the Schindlers to take their case to the federal courts, causing the legislative and executive branches to enter the case in a significant way.

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U.S. District Court denies the Schindler’s request to have the feeding tube reinserted. The presiding judge isn’t convinced that Terri Schiavo’s right to due process has been violated and finds that the parents were not able to establish a likelihood of success in the event of a new case.

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The Schindlers appeal this decision, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit upholds it.

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The Schindlers appeal to the Supreme Court, which turnes down their final plea to have their daughter’s feeding tube reinserted.

The power of the judiciary

Despite important interventions by the executive and legislative branches at both the state and federal levels, the courts have ruled consistently in this case, affirming and reaffirming one another’s decisions.

The various judges involved in the case have been appointed by both Republicans and Democrats, but their supposed "liberalism" or "conservatism" has not shown itself in their decisions.

However, political leaves have sprouted from the other branches of government.

The power of the "culture of life"

President Bush, Governor Bush, and key members of the Republican Congress have all discussed the case as an opportunity to create a "culture of life." This language is often used in relation to the abortion issue, which is now distinctly and completely intermeshed with the Terry Schiavo case.

Many of the groups that are clamoring to keep Terri Schiavo alive are the same groups that oppose abortion, and they know that winning the Schiavo case would greatly help them make their case against abortion. Others, including many Democrats who are personally troubled by abortion, take the stand that government has no place in any person’s personal decisions, especially about their bodies.

The issue, then, has dwarfed Terri Schiavo the person; it’s become larger than her wishes, her husband’s wishes, or her parents’. It’s engulfed the State of Florida and the three branches of government; it’s become a battleground for anti-abortion activists.

But once we pare away all of the excitement and all of the political rhetoric, we are left with a few essential questions: Does Terri Schiavo, or anyone with very limited brain function, have the right to die? Should a governor or a president have the power to stay a court’s decision in a case like this one? Should legislative bodies be able to create new laws in order to affect a particular case, threatening the power of the courts?

What do you think?

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Posted on: 3/25/2005