Terri Schiavo, Medical Patient

* Born: 3 December 1963
* Birthplace:
* Best Known As: The Florida woman at the center of the Schiavo legal case

Name at birth: Theresa Marie Schindler

On 25 February 1990, 26-year-old Terri Schiavo suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped for five minutes. Schiavo spent the following years in rehabilitation centers and nursing homes but remained in a coma without regaining higher brain function. In 1998 her husband, Michael Schiavo, filed a legal petition to have Schiavo's feeding tube removed, saying that his wife had told him before her medical crisis that she would not want to be artificially kept alive in such a situation. Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, fought this request. Florida judge George W. Greer ruled in 2000 that Schiavo was "beyond all doubt" in a persistent vegetative state and that her husband could discontinue life support. But as legal appeals in the case continued, the case became widely known as some religious groups and pro-life activists began to insist that Schiavo should be kept alive. Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in 2003, but reinserted six days later when the Florida legislature passed "Terri's Law," which allowed the state's governor to issue a stay in such cases. The law was later ruled invalid by the courts. In March of 2005 Schiavo's feeding tube was again removed, and the case became a greater public sensation when the U.S. Congress was called into special emergency session to pass a bill allowing federal courts to review the case, with President George W. Bush flying from Texas to Washington especially to sign the bill into law. However, federal judges and the U.S. Supreme Court have so far refused to intervene, and as of this writing Schiavo is not receiving food or water.

The cause of Schiavo's cardiac arrest was believed to be a potassium imbalance, possibly created by an eating disorder... Schiavo's case has long been considered to have political implications, as Florida governor Jeb Bush and his brother, U.S. president George W. Bush, both have the vigorous support of pro-life conservatives... Terri and Michael Schiavo were married on 10 November 1984.