Gov. Bush Appeals Latest Schindler-Schiavo Ruling.

Editor's note. As NRL News was going to press, the 2nd District Court of Appeals granted a motion from the husband of Terri Schindler-Schiavo to send her case directly to the Florida Supreme Court, bypassing a lower-court review. It is up to the Florida High Court whether to do so. "It can tell the lower court to hear it and issue a ruling before deciding whether to hear the matter," according to the Associated Press (AP).

Attorneys for Gov. Jeb Bush objected to fast-tracking the case. The week before the appeals court granted Michael Schiavo his motion, the governor's attorneys objected to sending the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court. They seek "permission to gather evidence in the case and want to have a trial on whether Terri Schiavo ever had expressed wishes not to be kept alive artificially, saying there were essential facts still in dispute," the AP reported.

In a separate matter the same day, June 1, Gov. Bush's attorneys asked the court of appeals to stop the proceedings while Terri's parents challenge Michael Schiavo's handling of Terri's care.

Continuing a largely disappointing string of court decisions, a Florida judge last month struck down a state law that had empowered Gov. Jeb Bush to have reinserted the feeding tube through which Terri Schindler-Schiavo receives her only nourishment. However, Gov. Bush's office immediately appealed the decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal, which means that Terri will be fed while the legal wrangling goes forward.

Referring to the May 5 decision, Pat Anderson, a lawyer for Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, told the Miami Herald that she was "not surprised, but, of course disappointed."

Pinellas County Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird concluded that "Terri's Law" violated the state Constitution. He handed down the ruling the day before Bush's attorneys were initially scheduled to depose their first witness. Terri's fate is embroiled in an extended, ever-more-acrimonious battle between the Schindlers and Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, now in its sixth year. According to the Associated Press, the case has "encompassed at least 20 judges in at least six different courts" and has drawn international attention.

The primary bones of contention are her medical condition and Terri's wishes. Michael Schiavo contends that Terri is in a persistent vegetative state (PVS), and that, based on conversations she'd had prior to her collapse in 1990, would "not want to be kept alive with no hope of recovery," according to the Tampa Tribune.