Terri Schiavo Begins Receiving Fluids and Hospital Care

Bioethics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Oct 22, 2003   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Terri Schiavo Begins Receiving Fluids and Hospital Care

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 22, 2003

Pinellas Park, FL (LifeNews.com) — Thanks to the executive order issued by Governor Jeb Bush, Terri Schiavo is receiving fluids and medical care at a local hospital to prepare for the reinsertion of the feeding tube that provides her with food and water.

Staff at Morton Plant Hospital began rehydrating Terri intravenously according to Pat Anderson, lead attorney for Terri’s family.

As long as Terri did not have kidney failure, she should be able to return to the state of health she was in prior to the removal of the feeding tube, one pro-life doctor told LifeNews.com.

Terri was taken by ambulance from the hospice where she had been staying to the local hospital and a crowd of supporters cheered. Dozens of dedicated supporters have been holding a round-the-clock prayer vigil and protest in support of Terri and her family.

"I’m ecstatic she’s being fed again,” said her brother, Bob Schindler, Jr. "I don’t think I can describe the way I feel right now. It’s been unreal.”

However, Terri’s family said she has had a noticeable change in condition during the 24 hours prior to her transfer to the hospital Tuesday evening.

Suzanne Carr, Terri’s sister, said Terri looked "very, very gaunt.”

Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, who was denied the opportunity to provide Terri a possible last communion, said her skin, when pinched Monday night, didn’t retract — a sign her condition had deteriorated.

Bob Schindler Jr., Terri’s brother, said, "Every second here is an hour.”

Florida Department of Law Enforcement officials said that hospital workers faced arrest if they did not act on Bush’s executive order and care for Terri.

Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo was "deeply troubled, angry and saddened that his wife’s wishes have become a political pingpong,” said Michael Schiavo’s lead attorney George Felos, an assisted suicide advocate. "He, as many others, is absolutely stunned at the course of events.”

Felos, filed a motion with Circuit Court Judge George Greer asking for an injunction to overturn Bush’s order.

Greer, who originally granted Michael’s decision to remove Terri’s feeding tube, denied Felos’ motion, but only on technical grounds. Felos refiled the motion but State Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird also refused to grant his request.

"We won. Terri won,” Terri’s father Bob Schindler said after the ruling.

Felos has five days to file additional arguments in a revised petition to overturn Bush’s order. Once he does that, the state has five days in which to respond — potentially granting Terri as much as a 10 day reprieve from further action denying her right to live.

The Florida Supreme Court has twice refused to hear the case, as has the U.S. Supreme Court. However, either side could appeal decisions regarding the legislation and Bush’s executive order to those courts.