Schiavo case given renewed hope

Feb 23, 2005 / 22:00 pm

A Florida judge yesterday, gave 41-year old brain damaged Terri Schiavo until at least Friday before her husband will be able to remove her feeding tube and effectively end her life.

A court order, sought by Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to delay the tube’s removal was set to expire Tuesday. Florida Judge George Greer however, who has been hearing the case for the last four years ordered an emergency stay until 5pm EST Wednesday.

That date has now been extended to Friday so that Judge Greer can consider new motions from Schiavo’s parents.

A fight has raged between Michael Schiavo, Terri’s husband, who maintains that his wife would never have wanted to be kept alive in her current state, and her parents who argue that their daughter never stated anything of the sort and could still be conscious.

Brian Clowes, a representative from Human Life International spoke with CNA this morning. He commented that, “here’s a person who has a possibility of waking up, and if there’s any possibility of that at all, we have a responsibility to keep her alive.”

“Food and water”, he said, “are the absolute least we can do.”

Fr. Thomas Euteneuer, President of Human Life International commented the group adamantly repudiates “the cowardly exercise of raw power and hatred that is incarnate in the campaign of husband Michael Schiavo and his legal team to kill a precious child of God.”

Florida Governor Jeb Bush and other Republican leaders are reportedly seeking ways to intervene in the case without “disrespecting the laws of the State of Florida.”

Bush intervened in 2003 by quickly signing a bill into law, which would keep Schiavo alive. That law was recently overturned by the Supreme Court and deemed unconstitutional.

Many Pro-life supporters are closely watching the case, which could set a deadly president in the so-called “right to die” debate, raging nationwide.