Lawyers Challenge ‘Terri’s Law’ in Fla.

The husband of a severely brain-damaged woman claimed in a court filing that a hastily passed state law empowering Gov. Jeb Bush to keep her alive violated the state constitution.

Lawyers for Michael Schiavo contended Wednesday that the law infringed on Terri Schiavo’s right to privacy and the separation of power provisions of the Florida Constitution.

The statute, dubbed “Terri’s Law” by Florida lawmakers, gave Bush the authority to order Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube be reinserted Oct. 21.

“It argues that her constitutional right to refuse medical treatment was, in essence, cast aside by a statute that allows the governor to do that under any whim and without any standards and without any review,” said George Felos, who represents Michael Schiavo, after filing the document.

Bush’s lawyers have a week to file a response. A hearing date has not yet been set.

“We will be responding in court,” said Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre.

Michael Schiavo has been battling in court for years to carry out what he says is his wife’s wish to not be kept alive artificially.

His in-laws, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought him, saying their daughter had no such wishes and is not in a permanent vegetative state, as a probate judge has declared. They say she is responsive and could improve with therapy.

Pat Anderson, lawyer for the Schindlers, hadn’t read the filing but contends that removing Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube and letting her die would be unconstitutional, violating the protections against discrimination based on physical disability and her right to enjoy life.

Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped. The legal battle over her fate is one of the nation’s longest and most contentious right-to-die cases.

She went without food and water for six days under a court order which allowed her husband to withdraw the tube. But within hours of the Legislature’s action last week, the tube was reinserted.

Florida courts have repeatedly affirmed Michael Schiavo’s legal right to remove his wife’s feeding tube. The state Supreme Court has twice refused to hear the case; the U.S. Supreme Court also refused to hear it.

President Bush said Tuesday that Gov. Bush, his younger brother, did the right thing in ordering the feeding tube reinserted.

The law passed by legislators also requires a guardian be appointed to represent Terri Schiavo’s interests in court. Deborah Bushnell, another lawyer for Michael Schiavo, asked Chief Circuit Judge David Demers Wednesday to delay the appointment until constitutional questions are settled.