Terri Schiavo's Father Robert Schindler Suffers Stroke

Terri Schiavo's dad Robert Schindler appears to have suffered a stroke. - Art Caplan

Jon Eisenberg on the State of Schiavo: Not Good

The news is not encouraging from Florida on the most significant end-of-life case of the year.

Gov. Bush, the Schindlers and their supporters are now taking a two-pronged approach to forestalling the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube despite the Florida Supreme Court's decision, and so far they have achieved success on both fronts. In the Florida Supreme Court case, Gov. Bush has obtained a 30-day stay of the court's decision in order to to give him time to ask the United States Supreme Court to take the case and issue a further stay. Meanwhile, the Schindlers filed a motion in the trial court asking the judge to hold a retrial on the issue of Terri Schiavo's wishes in light of the Pope's recent statement regarding tube feeding of PVS patients. According to the Schindlers, Terri, who was Catholic, would take the Pope's statement to mean she must remain on tube feeding. The judge denied the motion, citing a prior appellate court determination that Terri "did not regularly attend mass or have a religious advisor who could assist the court in weighing her religious attitude about life-support methods." However, the judge also issued an emergency stay of the feeding-tube removal until December 6, 2004, to give the Schindlers time to appeal this order. No doubt the Schindlers will file an appeal and ask for a further stay from the state Court of Appeal court pending the decision on the appeal. Thus, there are now two temporary stays in place. I think it doubtful that the Supreme Court will take the case and issue a stay, but I think it likely that the Court of Appeal will issue a stay pending its decision on the Pope motion, which will likely last for the better part of a year or longer.

Schiavo Lawyer Quits; Replaced by Right to Life Atty.

From Art Caplan:

Clearwater, FL (LifeNews.com) -- The attorney who has served as the lead counsel for the last three years for Terri Schiavo's parents stepped down this week. A new attorney who specializes in religious liberty cases will replace her as Bob and Mary Schindler focus on defending their daughter's right to live by saying starving her would violate her religious beliefs. On Tuesday, longtime Schindler attorney Pat Anderson vacated her position in favor of Florida lawyer David Gibbs, who is a member of the board of directors of the Christian Law Association. Anderson said the change has nothing to do with a change in legal tactics or division between her and the Schindler family. Anderson told LifeNews.com that the Schindler family believes Gibbs will be more than capable in representing him. "Bob [Schindler] has great confidence in David, and I wish him the best in the coming battles," Anderson said.

What Happens Next in Schiavo

Jon Eisenberg, author of several amicus briefs in end-of-life cases, reports by email today to the 60 of us who signed the Schiavo brief that:

The Governor's attorneys have announced that they will ask the United States Supreme Court to take the case. Meanwhile, the Schindlers have asked the trial judge to reopen the case and retry the issue of Terri's wishes because of the Pope's recent pronouncement against removal of feeding tubes from PVS patients. I'll keep you apprised of future developments.