If the name Terri Schiavo is brought up in a conversation, one may think of the image of a woman following a balloon as it is passed in front of her. She appears to recognize that it is there, but really does not know much more about it than that. Some would argue that this state does not constitute as living, that this “vegetative state” is somewhat less human. Others would argue that as long as she can breathe on her own, she is still considered to be a living human. These two conflicting viewpoints reached a climax in the early 2000s, and the story of Terri Schiavo is a perfect example of a right-to-die situation.
Terri Schiavo, born Theresa Marie Schindler, grew up just outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a Catholic family headed by Robert and Mary Schindler. It is important to point out that Schiavo had always had a weight problem, already weighing about 200 pounds by the time she graduated Archbishop Wood Catholic High School. After high school, she met Michael Schiavo at her local college, whom she married five months later on November 10, 1984. Two years after their marriage, Terri and Michael moved into the Schindlers’ condo in St. Petersburg, Florida, where Terri worked as an insurance clerk and Michael as a restaurant manager.
It was in this condo where everything went wrong. Terri had supposedly been trying the “green tea diet,” a diet where the herbal beverage makes up most of vitamin and mineral intake. Terri had fallen into weight and body image problems, and in May of 1989, it is reported that she only weighed 121 pounds.1 On February 25, 1990, Michael Schiavo called to check up on Terri. The two argued over Terri’s visit to the hairdresser, and when Michael returned home later that night, he called 9-1-1. When the paramedics arrived, they found Terri unconscious in the hallway of her condo. She was reported as having no pulse and no signs of breathing. Her suspected cardiac arrest is believed to have been caused by unusually low amounts of potassium in her bloodstream, which might have stemmed from her new risky diet.2
Though she was later resuscitated, the long period of time without receiving oxygen had quite a toll on her brain. The sections of her brain controlling perception and awareness took the biggest hit, and it would be about two months later until Terri would wake from her coma. When she did, she did not display any signs that she recognized her environment or even herself. A major consequence of her accident resulted in her inability to chew or eat food, though her respiratory and digestive systems were still functional. Doctors later installed a feeding tube that led directly into Terri’s stomach, bypassing her inability to eat.
Over the next couple of years, many neurologists from the surrounding area came to observe Terri Schiavo. The consensus among all of them was that Terri was in what is known as a “persistent vegetative state,” and there was little chance of recovery. In this state, people breath and digest their food, but none of their actions appear to be controlled by the brain.3 Though they are not always considered brain dead, the brain controls minimal activity, and the body processes that continue to function are controlled mainly by involuntary muscles.
About two years after Terri’s cardiac arrest, Michael Schiavo sued her former doctor for failing to diagnose Terri with bulimia. A jury awarded a total of one million dollars to Michael and Terri Schiavo, of which $700,000 was to go to the care-taking of Terri, and the remaining $300,000 went to Michael for the loss of his wife.4 After these and other financial resources ran out, approximately eight years later, Michael requested to remove Terri’s feeding tube. He claimed that Terri requested to not be kept alive by artificial means, should the situation arise. He used this, Terri’s lack of a will, and the fact that he was her legal guardian as basis for removing the feeding tube.
At this point in time, Terri’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, got involved in this decision. They claimed before Terri’s cardiac arrest, Michael had been prone to beating their daughter. The relationship between these in-laws continued to deteriorate. They accused Michael of frivolously spending the million dollars he had previously won in court on legal fees and low-rate care for Terri.5 Another piece of ammunition the Schindler’s used against Michael Schiavo was that he had already had a child with a girlfriend.
Michael Schiavo successfully had Terri’s feeding tube removed at two different points in time, both in 1998 and in 2001. However, when the Schindler’s went to court over the matter, they were able to get the feeding tube reinstalled both times. The Schindler’s were so adamant about keeping their daughter alive that they sought help from their pro-life governor of Florida, Jeb Bush.6 The governor had legal staff dedicated to finding a way for him to get involved. He was able to have the feeding tube put back in for a short time, and he succeeded in having a temporary guardian watch over Terri during the trials. Many believe the governor overstepped Florida law in his spur-of-the-moment action. Many think that if he wanted to change Florida’s end-of-life treatment laws, than there is a certain way to go about doing so. On the other hand, the governor was able to bring to light some of the shortcomings of the law. His intervention stressed the importance of having a preference on life-sustaining treatment, stating if Terri had made her preferences known, the whole conflict would not have occurred in the first place.7
The press only magnified the issues at hand in the Terri Schiavo case. Human rights activists, as well as religious organizations, lobbied on the side of the Schindler’s. These groups agreed that the feeding tube should remain, and used videos of Terri following a balloon and smiling at her mother as means to sway the public’s opinion.8 Unfortunately, Michael Schiavo was preemptively given the title of “villain” in the whole ordeal. Newscasts often showed people holding up malicious signs about him.9 One of these signs went as far as to say “Michael Schiavo=Judas,” in an attempt to appeal to the religious.
By 2005, the Schindler’s were running out of options. When it looked like the judge was going to hand over the decision to Michael Schiavo once and for all, the federal government got involved. Both Houses of Senate and Representatives voted in favor of delaying the removal of the feeding tube. However, the Supreme Court intervened and, like all the courts before them, turned down all of the Schindler’s requests and petitions.
The Schindler’s soon after told the public that, legally, there was nothing left they could do to help save Terri. People started offering Michael Schiavo large sums of money in exchange for his forfeiting of his rights as legal guardian over Terri. On March 31, 2005, a few days after her feeding tube was removed, Terri Schiavo died of dehydration.10 Both Robert and Mary Schindler were not allowed in Terri’s room during the days leading up to her death. However Terri’s brother and sister were with her right before she was about to die, but Michael had them removed so he could be with his wife in her final moments. Although Michael had complete control in these final moments, he allowed Terri to receive her Last Rights and the Eucharist through her feeding tube one last time.11
Soon after the death of Terri Schiavo, many moral and legal issues needed to be clarified for future cases. Pope John Paul II addressed the matter from the Vatican. He claimed that it would be morally wrong for anyone to be denied food or water in this type of life and death situation.12 Also, the means through which Jeb Bush intervened in this case were later deemed unconstitutional.
The story of Terri Schiavo will, unlike most stories, be remembered for her death rather than her life. This woman from just outside Philadelphia was the eye of a media, moral, and legal hurricane for some time, but her death brought to light many issues that needed to be dealt with, but most importantly, the right-to-die issue. Many people had conflicting viewpoints on the issue, and they became quite clear in this case. The death of Terri Schiavo epitomized all the legal and moral ambiguities of the right to die, and it is unfortunate that her death was such an example.
Endnotes
1) Adrian Campo-Flores, “Who Has the Right to Die?,” Newsweek, November 2003, p. 6.
2) Campo-Flores, p. 7.
3) Claudia Wallis, “The Twilight Zone of Consciousness,” Time, October 2003, p. 11.
4) Wallis, p. 12.
5) Campo-Flores, p. 8.
6) Rebecca Dresser, “Schiavo: A Hard case Makes Questionable Law,” Hastings Center Report, May-June 2004, p. 8.
7) Dresser, p. 9.
8) Diane Lynne, “Life and Death Tug of War: The Whole Terri Schiavo Story.” Worldnet Daily, October 2003, p. 17.
9) Lynne, p. 17.
10) Lynne, p. 19.
11) Lynne, p. 20.
12) Lynne, p. 20.