Guardian Ad Litem Report Calls for Tests for Terri.

As NRL News goes to press, the battle to save Terri Schindler-Schiavo goes on unabated. Most important, Terri continues to sustain her remarkable recovery from a grueling stretch of six days without food and fluids.

Next in importance, perhaps, is her family's ability to get the truth out about Terri. Bob and Mary Schindler, Terri's parents, and her brother and sister, continue to appear on network and cable television programs.

Most attention, understandably, was paid to University of South Florida Professor Jay Wolfson. In October, when the Florida legislature passed "Terri's Law" empowering Gov. Jeb Bush to reinsert Terri's feeding tube, one of the provisions was to appoint a guardian ad litem. This individual would not replace Terri's legal guardian (her husband) but would review Terri's situation and make recommendations.

On December 2, Wolfson's 40-page report was made public. The emphases of the ensuing newspaper stories were that Wolfson concluded that Terri is "in a persistent vegetative state [PVS] with little hope of recovery," as the St. Petersburg Times put it, and that he "also recommended a new set of swallowing tests to see if Mrs. Schiavo can eat and drink on her own. If so, he said, it might be presumed Mrs. Schiavo would want to live." (Although Wolfson does not say so in so many words, the clear implication is that if Terri can swallow on her own, she is not in a PVS.)

Without questioning Prof. Wolfson's competence, motives, or sincerity, there were (and are) still issues he left unaddressed, perhaps because of the short 30 days he was given to report. In his response, Gov. Jeb Bush hit on some of the most important. His statement is reproduced below in full.

"I appreciate Dr. Wolfson's time and effort in this endeavor. I also respect the tremendous challenge of preparing an accurate, independent and thorough review of nearly 10 years of information in only 30 days. That Dr. Wolfson recognizes the continued need for an independent third party Guardian Ad Litem is encouraging, as is his recommendation that Mrs. Schiavo undergo swallowing tests and therapy. Based on this third party analysis, I am hopeful that Mr. Schiavo and his attorney will no longer prevent this vital testing from taking place. This would be a first step in the fresh, clean-hands start that Dr. Wolfson recommended at the end of his report.

"Taken as a whole, however, I am concerned that too many open questions still remain. Chief among them is the issue of Mrs. Schiavo's wishes, and whether or not there is clear and convincing evidence as to what those wishes were. The current court proceedings have not addressed this issue, or her current guardian's conflicts of interest, nor have I been given the opportunity to develop evidence, or test the accuracy of Mr. Schiavo's assertions on this matter.