Terri Schiavo case

==Public opinion and activism==
{{Main|Public opinion and activism in the Terri Schiavo case}}

The seven-year case generated a great deal of public attention and activism.<ref name="Lois Shepherd">{{cite book|last=Shepherd|first=Lois|title=If That Ever Happens to Me: Making Life and Death Decisions after Terri Schiavo (Studies in Social Medicine)|year=2009|publisher=The University of North Carolina Press|isbn=978-0-8078-3295-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ifthateverhappen00shep/page/1 1–2]|url=https://archive.org/details/ifthateverhappen00shep/page/1}}</ref><ref name="Stolberg NYT">{{cite news|last=Stolberg|first=Sheryl Gay|title=Schiavo's Case May Reshape American Law|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/politics/01legacy.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 1, 2005|access-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316023351/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/01/politics/01legacy.html|archive-date=March 16, 2015|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> There was extensive media coverage and both sides courted public opinion.<ref name="Public opinion">{{cite news|title=Schiavo's parents turn to court of public opinion|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/15/Hillsborough/Schiavo_s_parents_tur.shtml|agency=Associated Press|date=February 15, 2005|access-date=November 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927011713/http://www.sptimes.com/2005/02/15/Hillsborough/Schiavo_s_parents_tur.shtml|archive-date=September 27, 2012|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Case Didion">{{cite magazine|last=Didion|first=Joan|title=The Case of Theresa Schiavo|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2005/jun/09/the-case-of-theresa-schiavo/?pagination=false|magazine=The New York Review of Books|date=June 9, 2005|access-date=November 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120105359/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2005/jun/09/the-case-of-theresa-schiavo/?pagination=false|archive-date=January 20, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2000, the Schindlers created the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation to garner support.<ref name="Funding sources">{{cite news|last1=Nohlgren|first1=Stephen|last2=Zucco|first2=Tom|title=Schiavo case has myriad fund sources|url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/28/news_pf/State/Schiavo_case_has_myri.shtml|newspaper=St. Petersburg Times|date=March 28, 2005|access-date=November 27, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130829211725/http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/28/news_pf/State/Schiavo_case_has_myri.shtml|archive-date=August 29, 2013|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="TS press release">{{cite press release|title=Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation Changes Name; Hones Mission|url=http://www.standardnewswire.com/news/94375568.html|publisher=Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network press release|access-date=November 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130032038/http://standardnewswire.com/news/94375568.html|archive-date=November 30, 2010|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref> During the weeks when Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in 2005, activists kept up an around-the-clock vigil outside her hospice. The protests were described as loud but non-violent. There were dozens of arrests, with most being for crossing a police line with water for Schiavo.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/national/28cnd-schiavo.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Schiavo Protesters Have Hearts on Sleeves and Anger on Signs|date=March 28, 2005|access-date=July 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111210115900/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/28/national/28cnd-schiavo.html|archive-date=December 10, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Protests CBS">{{cite web|title=Schiavo Protesters' Passions Rise|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-201_162-683326.html|url-status=|website=CBS News|access-date=November 24, 2012}}{{deadlink|date=September 2023}}</ref>

Two [[opinion poll|polls]] conducted shortly after Schiavo's feeding tube was removed for the final time in 2005 showed that a large majority of [[United States|Americans]] believed that Michael Schiavo should have had the authority to make decisions on behalf of his wife and that the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] overstepped its bounds with its intervention in the case.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/25/opinion/lynch/main683233.shtml|work=CBS News|title=Schiavo Politics, Up Close|date=March 25, 2005|access-date=July 23, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629123138/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/25/opinion/lynch/main683233.shtml|archive-date=June 29, 2011|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}</ref>