Terri Schiavo case

==Final feeding tube removal and federal involvement==

===Early 2005 motions===
On February 23, 2005, the Schindlers filed a motion for relief from judgment pending medical evaluations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://floridasky.us/terri/022305med.pdf|title="Resondents' Fla.R.Civ.P.1.540(b)(5) Motion for relief from judgment pending contemporary medical/psychiatric/rehabilitative evaluation of Theresa Marie Schiavo", File Number: 90-2908GD-003|author=Gibbs, David C. III|date=February 23, 2005|access-date=May 1, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526191644/http://floridasky.us/terri/022305med.pdf|archive-date=May 26, 2006|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Schindlers wanted Schiavo to be tested with an [[Functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]] and given a swallowing therapy called VitalStim. The motion was accompanied by thirty-three affidavits from doctors in several specialties, speech-language pathologists and therapists, and a few neuropsychologists, all urging that new tests be undertaken.<ref name="Greer-PDF6th">{{cite web|url=http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder030905.pdf|title=In re: The guardianship of Theresa Marie Schiavo, Incapacitated. Michael Schiavo, as Guardian of the person of Theresa Marie Schiavo, Petitioner, v. Robert Schindler and Mary Schindler, Respondents, File No. 90-2908-GD-003|page=2|author=Greer, George W. Circuit Judge|publisher=Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit|date=March 9, 2005|access-date=May 28, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725081338/http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder030905.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>''Face the Nation'', CBS: [http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_32705.pdf Transcript for Sunday, March 27, 2005 (PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629052819/http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/face_32705.pdf |date=June 29, 2011 }}.</ref> Patricia Fields Anderson, the Schindler family attorney, still held out hope "that Terri might be able to take nourishment orally, despite past findings that she is incapable".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/15/Columns/Too_thin_a_line_betwe.shtml|title=Too thin a line between life, death for Schiavo|author=Troxler, Howard|work=[[Saint Petersburg Times]]|date=September 15, 2003|access-date=March 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509142758/http://www.sptimes.com/2003/09/15/Columns/Too_thin_a_line_betwe.shtml|archive-date=May 9, 2006|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Judge Greer formally denied the motion and ordered the "removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward" and set the time and date for the removal of the feeding tube as "1:00 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2005".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder02-05.pdf|page=3|title=In re: The guardianship of Theresa Marie Schiavo, Incapacitated. Michael Schiavo, Petitioner, v. Robert Schindler and Mary Schindler, Respondents, File No. 90-2908-GD-003|author=Greer, George W. Circuit Judge|publisher=Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit]|date=February 25, 2005|access-date=June 26, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725081249/http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder02-05.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

On February 28, 2005, the Schindlers filed a motion, asking for permission to attempt to provide Schiavo with "Food and Water by Natural Means". This second motion asked for permission to "attempt to feed" Schiavo by mouth.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://floridasky.us/terri/022805EmMotionNaturalFeeding.pdf|title=Emergency expedited motion for permission to provide Theresa Schiavo with food and water by natural means, File Number: 90-2908GD-003|page=1|author=Gibbs, David C. III|date=February 27, 2005|access-date=March 25, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325011812/http://floridasky.us/terri/022805EmMotionNaturalFeeding.pdf|archive-date=March 25, 2006|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Judge Greer denied the second motion on March 8, saying "it has become clear that the second motion is part and parcel of the previous motion on medical evaluations. The same declarations are being used for both motions and the motion appears to be an alternative pleading to the previous motion. Both are asking for an experimental procedure."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder030805.pdf|title=In re: The guardianship of Theresa Marie Schiavo, Incapacitated. Michael Schiavo, Petitioner, v. Robert Schindler and Mary Schindler, Respondents, File No. 90-2908-GD-003|author=Greer, George W. Circuit Judge|publisher=Florida Sixth Judicial Circuit|date=March 8, 2005|access-date=March 25, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725081234/http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/trialctorder030805.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The following day, Greer denied the first motion as well, citing that an affiant doctor for Michael cautioned that fMRI was an experimental procedure that should be conducted in an academic setting, because Schiavo had already undergone swallowing tests and failed, and because VitalStim had only been performed on patients who were not in a PVS. Greer noted that "most of the doctor affidavits submitted are based on their understanding of Schiavo's condition from news reports or video clips they have seen. Many are obviously not aware of the medical exams undertaken for the 2002 trial."<ref name="Greer-PDF6th"/>

Following Greer's order on March 18, 2005, to remove the feeding tube, Republicans in the [[United States Congress]] [[subpoena]]ed both Michael and Terri Schiavo to testify at a congressional hearing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/HouseSubpoenas.pdf|title="Subpoena", Committee on Government Reform, U.S. House of Representatives|author=Davis, Tom Chairman (for The Committee)|date=March 18, 2005|access-date=September 1, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050904000602/http://abstractappeal.com/schiavo/HouseSubpoenas.pdf|archive-date=September 4, 2005|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Greer told congressional attorneys, "I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene." He also stated that last-minute action by Congress does not invalidate years of court rulings.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-03-18-congress-schiavo_x.htm|title=Schiavo's feeding tube removed despite congressional intervention|agency=Associated Press|date=March 18, 2005|access-date=February 24, 2006|work=USA Today|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060217011532/http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-03-18-congress-schiavo_x.htm|archive-date=February 17, 2006|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBLXWESG6E.html|title=Schiavo's Feeding Tube Removed|agency=Associated Press|date=March 18, 2005|access-date=October 1, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215160223/http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBLXWESG6E.html |archive-date=December 15, 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Palm Sunday Compromise===
{{Main|Palm Sunday Compromise}}
President [[George W. Bush]] and Congressional Republicans anticipated Greer's adverse ruling well before it was delivered and worked on a daily basis to find an alternative means of overturning the legal process by utilizing the authority of the [[United States Congress]]. On March 20, 2005, the Senate, by [[unanimous consent]], passed their version of a relief bill; since the vote was taken by voice vote, there was no official tally of those voting in favor and those opposed. Soon after Senate approval, the House of Representatives passed an identical version of the bill S.686, which came to be called the "[[Palm Sunday Compromise]]" and transferred jurisdiction of the Schiavo case to the federal courts. The bill passed the House on March 21, 2005, at 12:41&nbsp;a.m. ([[UTC−5]]). Bush flew to [[Washington, D.C.]] from his vacation in [[Texas]] in order to sign the bill into law at 1:11&nbsp;a.m.

While the bill had been proposed by Republican Senators [[Rick Santorum]] and [[Mel Martínez]], it also had the support of Democratic Senator [[Tom Harkin]] due to [[disability rights]] concerns in the Schiavo case. Harkin had worked with disability rights groups for years and co-authored the 1990 [[Americans with Disabilities Act]].<ref name="disability rights"/> American disability rights groups traditionally tend to ally themselves with Democrats and the political left;<ref name="disability rights"/> however, in the Schiavo case, they joined pro-life organizations in opposing the removal of her feeding tube and supporting the Palm Sunday Compromise.<ref name="Congress Debate"/> According to [[Marilyn Golden]], Harkin's support was necessary for passage of the bill, as any voice opposition by Democrats would have delayed it.<ref name="disability rights"/>

As in the state courts, all of the Schindlers' federal petitions and appeals were denied, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant ''[[certiorari]]'', effectively ending the Schindlers' judicial options. At the same time, the so-called [[Schiavo memo]] surfaced, causing a political firestorm. The memo was written by [[Brian Darling]], the legal counsel to Florida Republican senator Mel Martínez. It suggested the Schiavo case offered "a great political issue" that would appeal to the party's [[base (politics)|base]] (core supporters) and could be used against Senator [[Bill Nelson (politician)|Bill Nelson]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] from [[Florida]], because he had refused to co-sponsor the bill.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002213728_memo20.html|title=GOP memo says issue offers political rewards|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=April 4, 2005|access-date=March 2, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110306125620/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002213728_memo20.html|archive-date=March 6, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Nelson easily won re-election in 2006.

Republican majority leader and physician [[Bill Frist]] opposed the removal of her feeding tube and in a speech delivered on the Senate floor, challenged the diagnosis of Schiavo's physicians of Schiavo being in a persistent vegetative state (PVS): "I question it based on a review of the video footage which I spent an hour or so looking at last night in my office."<ref>{{cite book|last=Frist|first=Bill|title=Bill Frist : a senator speaks out on ethics, respect and compassion|year=2005|publisher=Monument Press|location=Washington, D.C.|isbn=0-9769668-3-2|page=195|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0aFiYpPzsgYC&q=%22I+question+it+based+on+a+review%22&pg=PA195}}</ref> After her death, the autopsy showed signs of long-term and irreversible damage to her brain consistent with PVS.<ref>[http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/schiavo/61305autopsyrpt.pdf Medical Examiner's Report on the Schiavo Autopsy (PDF)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013124733/http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/schiavo/61305autopsyrpt.pdf |date=October 13, 2016 }} June 13, 2005</ref> Frist defended his actions after the autopsy.<ref>[[Anne E. Kornblut|Kornblut, Anne E.]] (2005). "Schiavo Autopsy Renews Debate on G.O.P. Actions". ''[[The New York Times]]'', June 16, 2005</ref>