Terri Schiavo Case Summary

The Terri Schiavo case was a right-to-die legal case in the United States. Theresa Marie Schiavo, “Terri”, and her legal guardian, her husband, argued that Schiavo would not want prolonged life support without the prospect of recovery. They elected to remove her feeding tube. Schiavo's parents disagreed with her husband's decision and challenged Schiavo's medical diagnosis. They argued in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration. They also publicized series of legal challenges, which ultimately involved state and federal politicians up to the level of President George W. Bush. This caused a seven-year delay before Schiavo's feeding tube was ultimately removed. On February 25, 1990, Schiavo suffered a cardiac arrest at her home.

He was opposed by Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler. The court determined that Schiavo would not want to continue life-prolonging measures. On April 24, 2001, her feeding tube was removed for the first time, only to be reinserted several days later. On February 25, 2005, a Pinellas County judge again ordered the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube. Staff at the Pinellas Park hospice facility disconnected the feeding tube on March 18, 2005, and Schiavo died on March 31, 2005. The Schiavo case involved 14 appeals and numerous motions, petitions, and hearings in the Florida courts; five suits in federal district court; extensive political intervention at the levels of the Florida state legislature, Governor Jeb Bush, the U.S. Congress, and President George W. Bush; and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States. The case also spurred highly visible activism from the pro-life movement, the right-to-die movement, and disability rights groups. Since Schiavo's death, both her husband and her family have written books on their sides of the case, and both have also been involved in activism over its larger