ACLJ: Florida Court Should Extend Emergency Stay Keeping Terri Schiavo's Feeding Tube in Place

February 23, 2005

(Washington, DC) - The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represented the parents of Terri Schiavo in a legal battle to keep their daughter alive, said a Florida court should keep an emergency stay in place while other legal issues are resolved in the case of Terri Schiavo, who faces starvation if a feeding tube is removed.   After a Florida appeals court cleared the way yesterday for Terri's husband to remove the feeding tube, a Florida circuit court judge stepped in and issued an emergency stay preventing the tube from being removed.  A hearing is scheduled this afternoon before that court to determine if the emergency stay will be extended.

The court did the right thing by stepping in and issuing an emergency stay, keeping Terri Schiavo alive," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which represented Mary and Robert Schindler Terris parents at the Supreme Court in their efforts to defend the emergency Florida legislation that saved their daughters life.  This is an important step in the legal battle to keep Terri alive. We will do everything we can to assist the Florida attorneys representing Terris parents to ensure that Terri remains alive.  There is new medical evidence to suggest that patients like Terri do respond and are more aware of their surroundings than previously thought.  We are examining all legal options available including returning to the U.S. Supreme Court once again on behalf of Terris parents.

Last month, the Supreme Court refused to take the Schiavo case by rejecting an appeal by the Florida Governors office asking the high court to reverse a decision declaring Terris Law a state law that reinstated feeding and hydration measures unconstitutional. 

In its brief filed at the Supreme Court, the ACLJ said the decision by the Florida Supreme Court is an astonishing and unprecedented ruling and encouraged the high court to send the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further clarification prior to accepting the case.  The brief also argued that the Florida Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally in its decision when it determined that once any court has issued a decree regarding the care and treatment of an incompetent person, neither the legislature nor the executive branch can take independent steps on behalf of the incompetent persons welfare. 

The brief also asserted that Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state, as alleged by her husband, that her condition is not terminal and untreatable, and that she is aware of her surroundings and does not want to die especially by starvation and dehydration.

Governor Bush acting under Terris Law, ordered feeding and hydration tubes to be restored to Terri after a Florida trial court had ordered them removed.  On behalf of the Schindlers, the ACLJ urged the states highest court in Bush v. Schiavo to reverse a lower court ruling that struck down "Terri's Law" as unconstitutional.  In September 2004, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision. 

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice focuses on constitutional law and the protection of human life and is based in Washington, D.C.