PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Doctors removed the feeding tube Wednesday that has been keeping alive a severely brain-damaged woman at the center of an epic, six-year legal battle between her husband and parents.
Terri Schiavo, 39, underwent the procedure at the Tampa Bay area hospice where she has been living for several years, said her father, Bob Schindler. Attorneys representing her husband, Michael Schiavo, said it will take between a week and 10 days for her to die.
The tube removal came just hours after Gov. Jeb Bush told Bob Schindler and his wife, Mary, that he was instructing his legal staff to find some means to block the court order allowing Michael Schiavo to end his wife’s life.
"I am not a doctor, I am not a lawyer. But I know that if a person can be able to sustain life without life support, that should be tried," the governor said, adding the "ultimate decision of this is in the courts."
Schiavo has been in a vegetative state since 1990, when her heart stopped because of what may have been a chemical imbalance, doctors said. Her parents believe she is capable of learning how to eat and drink on her own.
Michael Schiavo says his wife would not have wanted to be kept alive artificially in this way, but his in-laws contend that she wants to live.
"In our eyes, it’s murder," Bob Schindler said Wednesday on CBS’ "Early Show."
Doctors have testified that the noises and facial expressions Terri Schiavo makes are reflexes and do not indicate that she has enough mental capabilities to communicate.
The Florida Supreme Court has twice refused to hear the case, and it also has been rejected for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. On Tuesday, a Florida appeals court again refused to block removal of the tube.
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