INTERVIEW — BOBBY SCHINDLER – brother of Terri Schiavo and President of the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network www.lifeandhope.com/
TOPIC: Baby Alfie Evans fighting for his life in spite of UK health care system trying to stop the parents from saving him
BACKGROUND: The Terri Schiavo case was a right-to-die legal case in the United States from 1990 to 2005, involving Theresa Marie “Terri” Schiavo (/tɛriː ˈʃaɪvoʊ/; December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005), a woman in an irreversible persistent vegetative state. Schiavo’s husband and legal guardian argued that Schiavo would not have wanted prolonged artificial life support without the prospect of recovery, and elected to remove her feeding tube. Schiavo’s parents disputed her husband’s assertions and challenged Schiavo’s medical diagnosis, arguing in favor of continuing artificial nutrition and hydration. The highly publicized and prolonged series of legal challenges presented by her parents, which ultimately involved state and federal politicians up to the level of President George W. Bush, caused a seven-year delay before Schiavo’s feeding tube was ultimately removed. In 1998, Schiavo’s husband, Michael, petitioned the Sixth Circuit Court of Florida to remove her feeding tube pursuant to Florida law.[3] He was opposed by Terri’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler. The court determined that Schiavo would not have wished to continue life-prolonging measures, and on April 24, 2001, her feeding tube was removed for the first time, only to be reinserted several days later. On February 25, 2005, a Pinellas County judge again ordered the removal of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube. Several appeals and federal government intervention followed, which included U.S. President George W. Bush returning to Washington D.C. to sign legislation moving the case to the federal courts. After appeals through the federal court system upheld the original decision to remove the feeding tube, staff at the Pinellas Park hospice facility disconnected the feeding tube on March 18, 2005, and Schiavo died on March 31, 2005.
