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Theresa Schiavo Case Study

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Theresa Schiavo was born and raised in Pensylvania with her family until she later moved to Florida with her husband Michael Schiavo. When Theresa Schiavo was 27 years old she suffered cardiac arrest due to a potassium imbalance. For ten years Theresa remained in a vegetative state where she was kept alive by nutrition and hydration tubes. Michael Schiavo petitioned the Florida guardianship court for authority to terminate Theresa’s life support but her parents opposed Michael’s petition. Six days after the Florida legislature enacted a statute enabling the Governor to issue a one-time stay to prevent the withholding of nutrition and hydration from a patient if the patient had no advance directive. The Act that was passed six days after Theresa was removed from life support authorized the governor to issue a stay where nutrition and hydration were withheld from a patient who, as of October 2003: did not have an advance directive, was in a “persistent vegetative state,” had been removed …show more content…

The trial court’s decision for the Bush v. Schiavo case was made in accordance with the procedures and protections that are set forth by the judicial branch in accordance with the statutes passed by the Legislature at that time. The Legislature is able to enact laws to protect those citizens who are incapable of protecting their own interests however such laws must comply with the constitution. In this case it is a violation of the separation of powers between the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. This Act that was passed is unconstitutional because Theresa Schiavo is in a permanent vegetative state and the decision that is being made needs to be in her best interest since she is unable to make the decision for herself. The decision that was made was final and it was unconstitutional for the Legislature to attempt to alter the final decision that applied to Theresa

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