Florida man presses case in court to let his wife die

TAMPA, Fla. – A brain-damaged woman kept alive for years over the objection of her husband has been “stripped of her most intimate personal rights,” his lawyer said in papers filed Monday with the state Supreme Court.

Michael Schiavo, husband of Terri Schiavo, has sued Gov. Jeb Bush over “Terri’s law,” a measure Bush pushed through the Legislature in October after Michael Schiavo removed the feeding tube keeping his wife alive.

Terri Schiavo had gone six days without food or water and was in the process of dying when the governor ordered her feedings to be resumed.

Michael Schiavo is challenging the law keeping the 40-year-old woman alive.

“Mrs. Schiavo is more akin to subjects of an absolute dictatorship than citizens of a democratic state,” the written arguments by Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos, say. “Nothing could be more repugnant to the Florida Constitution.”

A statement from the governor’s office Monday said Bush is “asking for our day in court so all the facts can be heard.”

“Terri’s current wishes are not known, and Michael Schiavo has a clear conflict of interest in respect to Terri’s future,” the statement said.

Felos did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

Arguments are scheduled in the Florida Supreme Court on Aug. 31.

Terri Schiavo has depended on the feeding tube to help keep her alive for more than a decade after collapsing from a chemical imbalance. Michael Schiavo says his wife, who left no written living will, never would have wanted to have been kept alive artificially.

But her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, say their daughter had no such death wish and persuaded Bush and the Florida Legislature to intervene.

“Terri’s law” was declared unconstitutional by a Pinellas County Circuit Court judge who accepted Michael Schiavo’s arguments that it violates his wife’s privacy right and the separation of powers between Florida’s branches of government.

But Bush’s attorneys say the law is constitutional because it provides an extra layer of protection for the disabled. The governor also argues the Pinellas court should not have struck down the law without first holding a trial in which Bush’s attorneys could have questioned Michael Schiavo.

Bush attorney Ken Connor has said many issues need to be resolved before Michael Schiavo should be allowed to remove the tube, including why he never mentioned his wife’s wishes during a malpractice trial in which the couple was awarded more than $700,000 to care for Terri Schiavo until the end of her natural life.

Also at issue, the governor contends, is whether there is hope for Terri Schiavo’s condition to improve through rehabilitation. Some medical experts have concluded she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope for recovery, but her parents and other doctors disagree.