The legal struggle surrounding Terri Schiavo, and the role former Gov. Jeb Bush (R) played in trying to keep her on life support, including quickly signing legislation that allowed the governor to prevent Schiavo’s feeding tube from being removed, resurfaced through a very long piece in Politico.
The piece, published on Friday, detailed the duels between Schiavo’s husband, Michael, and the then-governor from 2003 to 2005 over whether to take Schiavo off life support after suffering from a fall in 1990 that left her brain-dead. Schiavo would spend nearly 15 years on life support in a vegetative state while her family fought over her fate.
“It was a living hell,” Michael Schiavo told Politico, “and I blame him.”
University of Central Florida political science professor Aubrey Jewett told Politico the episode illustrated how Bush “will pursue whatever he thinks is right, virtually forever,” even when that meant ignoring multiple court orders to take Schiavo off life support.
“It’s a theme of Jeb’s governorship: He really pushed executive power to the limits,” Jewett said.
The piece describes how Bush, who’s currently weighing whether to run for president and has already taken steps toward jumping into the 2016 primary, initially believed he was powerless to keep Terri Schiavo on life support, a stance her family supported, but husband opposed.
Bush eventually filed a federal court brief supporting Terri Schiavo’s family’s efforts, but the feeding tube was ordered out about a week later.
John K. Stargel, a Republican in the Florida legislature, filed a brief allowing Bush to issue a “one-time stay.” Bush quickly signed the bill, “Terri’s Law” less than 24 hours after it was introduced to the Florida legislature. Bush also issued an executive order to put the feeding tube back in Schiavo. Legal battles ensued, and a circuit court judge ruled “Terri’s Law” unconstitutional.
Bush asked the United States Supreme Court to review the case but the High Court refused. The governor attempted to keep Schiavo on life support through the Department of Children and Families, which used motions to intervene based on “thousands of anonymous allegations of abuse against Terri Schiavo.”
After years of legal manueverings, and national outcry, Schiavo died on March 31, 2005. An autopsy found that her arms and legs had atrophied and her brain had shrunk to half its regular size. Terri Schiavo wasn’t able to see or feel anything, including pain according to the autopsy. Bush read the autopsy and urged the lead prosecutor in Pinellas County to review the case “without any preconceptions as to the outcome.”
George Felos, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, said Bush’s final intervention after Schiavo’s death, felt “odd,” “bizarre,” and “personal.”
