Timeline- Part 2

January 5, 2004

January 8, 2004

  • Judge Demers rejects the request to reappoint the guardian ad litem, citing the pending court decisions over the constitutionality of “Terri’s Law” as reason to wait on any action.

February 13, 2004

  • The 2nd DCA reverses Judge Baird’s ruling (in the case filed October 21, 2003) that denied the Schindlers permission to intervene in Michael Schiavo’s Constitutional challenge to “Terri’s Law.”  The 2nd DCA explains that Judge Baird did not follow proper procedure.  The court also gives permission to Governor Bush to question several witnesses who Judge Baird previously had ruled could not offer any relevant testimony.
  • Bush v. Schiavo, 866 So. 2d 140 (Fla. 2nd DCA 2004) (on intervention); 866 So. 2d 136 (2nd DCA 2004) (on request to take depositions). (Case No. 2D03-5783).

March 12, 2004

  • Judge Baird again rejects the Schindlers’ request to intervene in Michael Schiavo’s suit that questions the constitutionality of “Terri’s Law.”

March 20, 2004

  • Pope John Paul II addresses World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations and Pontifical Academy for Life Congress on "Life-Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas." His remarks spark widespread interest and controversy.

March 29, 2004

  • Nursing home workers discover 4 “fresh puncture wounds” on one arm and a fifth wound on the other arm; the workers state that a hypodermic needle appears to have caused the wounds.  Attendants discovered the wounds shortly after the Schindlers visited Ms. Schiavo for 45 minutes.  Toxicology reports indicate that no substance was injected into Ms. Schiavo. Clearwater police later conclude that the marks might have been made by a device used to move Ms. Schiavo and, in any case, that no evidence of abuse or other wrongdoing could be found. 

March 29, 2004

  • Judge Greer denies a motion filed by the Schindlers seeking to have Michael Schiavo defend himself in a hearing; they allege that he is violating a 1996 court order that requires him to share a sufficient amount of Ms. Schiavo’s medical information. Michael Schiavo claims that he has shared an adequate amount of information through attorneys.

April 16, 2004

April 23, 2004

  • The 2nd DCA rules that the Pinellas County trial court has jurisdiction to hear and is the proper venue for the case Michael Schiavo has filed against Governor Bush asserting that "Terri's Law" is unconstitutional.

May 5, 2004

  • Pinellas Circuit Judge W. Douglas Baird rules that "Terri's Law," sought and signed by Gov. Bush and approved by the Legislature on October 21, 2003, is unconstitutional. The governor appeals the ruling.

June 1, 2004

  • The 2nd DCA grants a motion from attorneys for Michael Schiavo to send the case directly to the Florida Supreme Court and bypass a lower-court review. Meanwhile, attorneys for Gov. Bush file a motion asking that all appeals be halted until the issue of whether Michael Schiavo has the authority to fight the governor on his wife's behalf is resolved.

June 16, 2004

  • Florida's Supreme Court, pointing to "a question of great public importance requiring immediate resolution by this Court," accepts jurisdiction and sets oral arguments for August 31, 2004.

June 30, 2004

  • 2nd DCA affirms Judge Baird's March 12 ruling denying the Schindlers the ability to intervene in the lawsuit over the constitutionality of "Terri's Law."

July 19, 2004

  • The Schindlers file a motion in the Circuit Court for Pinellas County seeking relief from judgment in Schindler v. Schiavo. Based in part upon the recent statement by Pope John Paul II, they argue that the orders mandating withdrawal of the PEG tube from Ms. Schiavo and authorizing Michael to challenge the constitutionality of "Terri's Law" violate her "free exercise of her religious beliefs [and] her right to enjoy and defend her own life and, in fact, imperil her immortal soul."

July 27, 2004

  • National group of bioethicists files amicus brief "in support of Michael Schiavo as guardian of the person."

August 31, 2004

  • The Florida Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the lawsuit over the constitutionality of "Terri's Law."

August 31, 2004

  • Circuit Judge George Greer, opposed for re-election by an attorney who was known to oppose Greer's rulings in the Schiavo case, is re-elected by a large margin.

September 23, 2004

  • Florida's Supreme Court, unanimously affirming the trial court order, declares "Terri's Law" unconstitutional.

October 4, 2004

October 21, 2004

  • Florida Supreme Court denies Governor Bush's amended motion for rehearing and clarification, as well as a motion seeking permission to file a second amended motion for rehearing and clarification. The Court issues a mandate to transfer jurisdiction back to Judge Greer.

October 22, 2004

  • In Pinellas County, at the trial-court level, Judge Greer denies the motion filed by the Schindlers on July 19, 2004. He also stays the removal of her PEG tube until December 6, 2004.

October 25, 2004

  • Governor Bush files a motion with the Florida Supreme Court asking that it recall the mandate it issued on October 22 because he will be filing a petition for certiorari regarding this case with the United States Supreme Court.

October 27, 2004

  • Florida Supreme Court grants Governor Bush's motion asking that it recall the mandate issued on October 22. Proceedings in the trial and all appellate courts in the case of Bush v. Schiavo are stayed until November 29, 2004.

November 22, 2004

  • In the guardianship proceeding in Pinellas County, the Schindlers appeal from Judge Greer’s October 22 order denying their motion for relief from judgment.

December 1, 2004

  • Governor Bush files a petition for certiorari, seeking review of the Florida Supreme Court’s decision regarding "Terri’s Law," with the U.S. Supreme Court.

December 29, 2004

  • 2nd DCA, without opinion, denies the Schindlers' November 22 appeal from Judge Greer's order refusing to reopen the guardianship proceeding.

January 10, 2005

  • The Schindlers again ask Judge Greer to remove Michael Schiavo from his judicial appointed post of Ms. Schiavo’s guardian.

January 13, 2005

  • The Schindlers file two motions – one in the 2d DCA, asking it to reconsider its decision of December 29, 2004, and a second in the trial court guardianship proceeding, asking Judge Greer once again to prevent withdrawal of nutrition and hydration until the 2d DCA does so.

January 24, 2005

  • The United States Supreme Court refused to grant review of the case in which the Florida Supreme Court struck down “Terri’s Law” as unconstitutional.

February 7, 2005

  • Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services cites the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation for failing to register with the state to solicit donations.

February 11, 2005

  • In Pinellas County, Judge Greer denies the Schindlers' motions, filed January 10 and 13, 2005. The order authorizing withdrawal of the PEG tube remains in effect, although implementation is stayed pending the outcome of currently pending appeals.

February 15, 2005

  • The Schindlers ask the 2nd DCA to stay the mandate issued when it refused to hear their most recent appeal.

February 16, 2005

  • Randall Terry, founder of the pro-life activist organization Operation Rescue, appears with the Schindlers at a news conference, vowing protest vigils against removal of the PEG tube.

February 18, 2005

  • The Schindlers again petition Judge Greer in Pinellas County for reconsideration of the order of February 11, 2005, in which the court upheld its judgment, made in the year 2000, that the PEG tube should be removed.

February 18, 2005

  • Florida Representatives Baxley Brown; Cannon; Davis, D.; Flores; Goldstein; Lopez-Cantera; Murzin; Quinones; Traviesa introduced H 701 in the Florida Legislature. H 701, mirroring S. 692 (introduced in October 2003 and withdrawn in April 2004), would require maintenance of medically supplied nutrition and hydration in incapacitated persons in most instances.

February 21, 2005

  • The 2d DCA denies the Schindlers’ motion of February 15, 2005, clearing the way for removal of the PEG tube when the current stay expires on February 22, 2005. Judge Greer schedules a hearing on the Schindlers’ motion of February 18, 2005, for February 23, 2005.

February 22, 2005

  • Judge Greer stays removal of the PEG tube until 5 p.m. on February 23, 2005 (after he hears argument on the motion filed by the Schindlers on February 18, 2005).

February 23, 2005

  • After a hearing, Judge Greer extends the stay preventing removal of the PEG tube until 5 p.m. on February 25, 2005, to permit time to issue an order detailing his decisions regarding matters discussed at the hearing. Officials from Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) move to intervene in the case, but Judge Greer denies the motion to intervene at the hearing.

February 25, 2005

  • Judge Greer denies the motion before him and orders that, “absent a stay from the appellate courts, the guardian, Michael Schiavo, shall cause the removal of nutrition and hydration from the ward, Theresa Schiavo, at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 18, 2005.”

February 26, 2005

  • A Vatican cardinal spoke on Vatican Radio opposing removal of the PEG tube.

February 28, 2005

  • The Schindlers file a number of motions with Judge Greer, addressing a range of issues. They also indicate that they will appeal the judge's decision of February 25, 2005. Judge Greer denies some of the motions but agreed to set a hearing date to consider others.

March 7, 2005

  • The Schindlers appeal Judge Greer's February 25, 2005 order to the 2nd DCA.
    Bioethicists from six Florida universities submit an analysis of H701.

March 8, 2005

  • U.S. Rep. David Weldon (R.-Fla.) introduces in the United States House of Representatives H.R. 1151, titled the Incapactitated Persons' Legal Protection Act. The bill would permit a federal court to review the Schiavo matter through a habeas corpus lawsuit.

March 9, 2005

  • The Florida House Health Care Regulation Committee considers H.701, voting to approve a Council/Committee Substitute 701 instead of the original version.

March 10, 2005

  • Judge Greer issues order denying Florida's Department of Children and Families the right to intervene in the guardianship case.

March 14, 2005

  • The Judiciary Committee in the Florida House considers H.701, voting to approve another Committee substitute for the original bill. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that the House and the Senate have agreed that this bill will come to a vote. 

March 15, 2005

  • The Florida House Health & Families Council considers and approves the second committee substitute H.701.
  • The Florida Senate Judiciary Committee passes S.804, providing that medically supplied nutrition and hydration cannot be “suspended from” a person in a PVS if: (1) the purpose of the suspension is “solely to end the life of” a person in a PVS; (2) a conflict exists on the issue of suspension of medically supplied nutrition and hydration among the persons who could be proxy decisionmakers for that person under Florida law; and (3) the person in the PVS had not executed a written advance directive or deignated a health care surrogate.

March 16, 2005

  • The 2d DCA affirms Judge Greer’s orders and refuses to stay the scheduled March 18 withdrawal of the PEG tube.
  • The U.S. House of Representatives, by voice vote, passes H.R. 1332, the Protection of Incapacitated Persons Act of 2005. This bill would amend federal law to provide for removal of certain cases to federal court from state court, rather than authorizing use of the federal habeas corpus remedy to obtain federal court review, as H.R. 1151 would have.
  • Rep. Joseph R. Pitts (R-Pa.) comments (on March 17) on H.R. 1332.
    • Text of Statement, from Congressional Record

March 17, 2005

  • The Florida House of Representatives approves H.701, after some amendments.
  • The Florida Senate votes down S.804.
  • Florida’s Department of Children and Families (DCF) petitions the Florida Supreme Court for relief, and the Florida Supreme Court denies the petition.
  • The U.S. Senate passes a “private bill” applying to the Schiavo case but differing from H.R. 1332. The U.S. Senate website explains a “private bill” as follows: “A private bill provides benefits to specified individuals (including corporate bodies). Individuals sometimes request relief through private legislation when administrative or legal remedies are exhausted. Many private bills deal with immigration–granting citizenship or permanent residency. Private bills may also be introduced for individuals who have claims again the government, veterans benefits claims, claims for military decorations, or taxation problems. The title of a private bill usually begins with the phrase, "For the relief of. . . ." If a private bill is passed in identical form by both houses of Congress and is signed by the President, it becomes a private law.”
  • The Schindlers ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case, but the U.S. Supreme Court denies their petition.
  • Republican senators circulate a memo on the political advantages of supporting legislation to reinsert Ms. Schiavo's nutrition tube. On April 7, The Washington Post reported that "The legal counsel to Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) admitted [on April 6] that he was the author of a memo citing the political advantage to Republicans of intervening in the case ... Brian H. Darling, 39, a former lobbyist for the Alexander Strategy Group on gun rights and other issues, offered his resignation and it was immediately accepted, Martinez said."

March 18, 2005

  • The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform issues five subpoenas: one commanding Michael Schiavo to appear before it and bring with him the “hydration and nutrition equipment” in working order; three commanding physicians and other personnel at the hospice to do the same; and one commanding Ms. Schiavo to appear before it. The subpoenas would require that the PEG tube remain in working order until at least the date of testimony, March 25, 2005. The subpoenas are included as appendices to the U.S. House All Writs Petition (see just below).
  • The Committee on Government Reform also moves to intervene in the guardianship litigation before Judge Greer and asks Judge Greer to stay his order requiring removal of the PEG tube. Judge Greer denies the motions.
  • The Committee on Government Reform files an emergency all-writs petition with the Florida Supreme Court, effectively seeking reversal of Judge Greer’s denial of its motions. The Florida Supreme Court denies this petition.
  • The House Committee on Government Reform asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Florida Supreme Court’s denial of its petition. Justice Kennedy, acting for the Court, denies the application for relief.
  • The PEG tube is removed in mid-afternoon. This is the third time the tube has been removed in accordance with court orders.
  • The Schindlers, as “next friends” of their daughter, file a petition for writ of habeas corpus in federal district court in the Middle District of Florida. That court dismisses the case for lack of jurisdiction and refuses to issue a temporary restraining order because “there is not a substantial likelihood that [the Schindlers] will prevail on their federal constitutional claims.”

March 19-20, 2005

  • The U.S. Senate delays its Easter recess and works on Saturday to reach a compromise with the House on a bill, S.686, closely resembling the special bill it passed on March 17. On Palm Sunday (which holiday is frequently noted in debate), it then passes S.686 and the U.S. House of Representatives returns from Easter recess for a special session to debate S.686.

March 20, 2005

  • House Democrats and Republicans hold news conferences.

March 21, 2005

March 22, 2005

March 23, 2005

  • The U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 vote, denies the Schindlers' appeal.
  • United States Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, acting en banc (as a whole), refuses to rehear the Schindlers’ appeal, leaving intact the court’s ruling earlier in the day.
  • House Democrats and Republicans hold news conferences.
  • The Florida Senate, by a vote of 21-18, again refuses to pass S.804. This bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on March 15, 2005.
  • Florida Governor Jeb Bush reports that a neurologist, Dr. William Cheshire, claims that Ms. Schiavo is not in a persistent vegetative state. The governor asks the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) to obtain custody of Ms. Schiavo in light of allegations of abuse. Judge Greer holds a hearing on the matter.
  • The Schindlers file a petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court.
  • Judge Greer issues a restraining order prohibiting DCF from removing Ms.Schiavo from the hospice or otherwise re-inserting the PEG tube.

March 24, 2005

  • The U.S. Supreme Court refuses to hear the Schindlers’ case.
  • The Schindlers file a Second Amended Complaint, adding several claims, in the federal court case. Count X, titled “Right to Life,” alleges a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment’s right to life because removing the PEG tube is “contrary to [Ms. Schiavo’s] wish to live.”
  • The trial court (Judge Whittemore) schedules a hearing for 6 p.m. and orders supplemental briefs on Count X.
  • Judge Greer denies DCF’s motion to intervene. DCF appeals Judge Greer’s order. Judge Greer vacates the automatic stay upon appeal. The 2d District Court of Appeal refuses to reinstate the stay. The Florida Supreme Court dismisses a motion on this matter because it “fails to invoke” the court’s jurisdiction.

March 25, 2005

  • Judge Whittemore denies the Schindlers’ second motion for an order re-inserting the PEG tube.
  • The Schindlers appeal Judge Whittemore’s order to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit affirms. The Schindlers announce that they will pursue no more federal appeals.
  • The Schindlers file an emergency motion attempting to convince Judge Greer to reinsert the PEG, at least temporarily until the Eleventh Circuit decides their appeal. The motion contends her family heard her try to verbalize "I want to live," according to news reports. (This motion and accompanying affidavits comprise Appendix 7 of the Schindlers’ Petition linked under March 26, just below.)
  • DCF appeals Judge Greer's March 23 denial of its first motion to intervene to the 2d DCA.

March 26, 2005

  • News agencies report the arrest on March 25 of Richard Alan Meywes of Fairview, N.C., for offering $250,000 for the killing of Michael Schiavo and another $50,000 for the death of Judge Greer.
  • The Schindlers advise supporters demonstrating around the hospice to return home to spend the Easter holiday with their families. The protesters remain.

March 27, 2005

  • In an interview on CNN, Governor Bush says: "I cannot violate a court order. I don't have power from the U.S. Constitution, or the Florida Constitution for that matter, that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made."

March 29, 2005

  • The Rev. Jesse Jackson leads a prayer service outside the hospice and speaks out against removal of the PEG tube.
  • The 2d DCA upholds Judge Greer's ruling refusing to let the DCF intervene.
  • Despite earlier indications that they would pursue no further federal appeals, the Schindlers petition the entire Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals for permission to file a motion for rehearing en banc although the time to do so has expired. A grant of that petition would enable the Schindlers to ask for review of the Eleventh Circuit decision of March 24.

March 30, 2005

March 31, 2005

  • Ms. Schiavo dies at 9:05 a.m. Her body is transported to the Pinellas Country Coroners’ Office for an autopsy.
  • Hospice of the Florida Suncoast issues a statement.
  • President Bush discusses Schiavo
  • Florida Gov. Bush issues a statement.
  • Judge Greer authorizes Michael Schiavo to administer Ms. Schiavo's estate.
  • On this date in 1976, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that PVS patient Karen Ann Quinlan could be disconnected from her respirator. She remained in a persistent vegetative state and died in 1985.

April 12, 2005

  • The Wall Street Journal Online / Harris Interactive Health Care Poll finds that "most people disapprove of how President Bush, Governor Bush, and the Congress handled the issue." 

April 15, 2005

  • In response to a motion from the media, Judge Greer orders DCF to release redacted copies of abuse reports regarding Ms. Schiavo. Newspapers report that DCF found no evidence of abuse after investigating the 89 reports filed before February 18, 2005. Thirty allegations are outstanding and still being investigated, but Judge Greer earlier had ruled that those allegations duplicated those previously filed. Order and Reports

May 17, 2005

  • More than six weeks after Ms. Schiavo's death, Lisa Wilson is the last of the hundreds of protesters outside Ms. Schiavo's hospice.

June 15, 2005

  • Dr. Jon Thogmartin, Florida's District Six Medical Examiner, releases the results of Ms. Schiavo's autopsy. He reports that the autopsy showed Ms. Schiavo's condition was "consistent" with a person in a persistent vegetative state. "This damage was irreversible," he said. "No amount of therapy or treatment would have regenerated the massive loss of neurons." No evidence of abuse was found, he said.

June 17, 2005

  • Florida Governor Jeb Bush asks a state prosecutor to investigate the circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's 1990 cardiac arrest, specifically the amount of time that elapsed between the time Ms. Schiavo collapsed and Michael Schiavo called 911.

June 20, 2005

  • Despite earlier statements that he intended to bury Ms. Schiavo's remains in Pennsylvania, Michael Schiavo buries them in Clearwater, Florida. The grave marker reads:

Schiavo
Theresa Marie

Beloved Wife

Born December 3, 1963
Departed This Earth
February 25, 1990
At Peace March 31, 2005

I Kept My Promise

June 22, 2005

  • News organizations report that Randall Terry, leader of a pro-life group that demonstrated against removal of Ms. Schiavo's PEG tube, intends to run for Florida State Senate. In that race, he would challenge Sen. James E. King, Jr., who helped block the Florida Legislature's final efforts to force reinsertion of the PEG tube.

June 27, 2005

July 7, 2005

July 8, 2005

  • According to The Associated Press, "The fledgling Ave Maria University [in Naples, Florida] has established a scholarship in the name of Terri Schiavo for students planning careers in the priesthood."

July 15, 2005

  • The Florida Bar honors Judge Greer with the President’s Award of Merit for “his longstanding dedication to our system of justice, for his work in the Terri Schiavo case, and for the personal hardships he has suffered as a result.”

August 5, 2005

  • The Florida State Guardianship Association names Michael Schiavo its "Guardian of the Year."

August 10, 2005

  • The New York Times reports that Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), referred to Ms. Schiavo's case during a pre-confirmation-hearing meeting with President Bush's U.S. Supreme Court nominee, Judge John Roberts.

August 11, 2005

  • The New York Times reports that the White House disputes Senator Wyden's account.

August 16, 2005

  • A conservative Catholic group wants 18 academics purged from campus for perpetuating "a culture of death" by backing abortion rights or siding against Terri Schiavo's parents, The Associated Press reports.

October 18, 2005

  • A state judicial nominating commission announces that the lawyer who headed the DCF efforts to intervene in the Schiavo case is a finalist for two new state judgeships.

December 7, 2005

  • Michael Schiavo establishes a political action committee — TerriPAC — to support or oppose politicians based on their positions regarding "government intrusion" in private lives. The "www.TerriPAC.org" site is no longer active.

January 21, 2006

  • Michael Schiavo marries his long-time girlfriend in a private ceremony in a church in Safety Harbor, some 15 miles northwest of Tampa.

February 12, 2006

  • Florida Senator Mel Martinez says that he may have been off-base in encouraging and voting for federal intervention in the Terri Schiavo matter.  "Perhaps this was not in the realm of federal concern. It may have been better left to state courts to deal with it," Martinez said in a taped interview for Political Connections on Bay News 9.

March 15, 2006

  • Robert Schindler, Ms Schiavo's father, and National Urban Policy Action Council president Kevin Fobbs seek to establish the anniversary of her death as a national holiday and a "celebration of the 'Culture of Life.'"

March 27, 2006

  • Just shy of one year after Ms Schiavo’s death, Michael Schiavo and professional writer Michael Hirsch publish a book titled Terri: The Truth. 
  • At about the same time (just before the first anniversary of her death), Bob and Mary Schindler also publish a book, A Life that Matters:  The Legacy of Terri Schiavo.

July 2006

  • The Florida Department of Health files a disciplinary complaint against nurse Carla Sauer Iyer, who had submitted an affidavit earlier in the case. The Department of Health seeks to rescind Ms. Iyer's license because of her breach of patient confidentiality. Affidavit-C-Iyer-082903.pdf

August 10, 2006

  • State Senate candidate Randall Terry earned $10,000 as spokesman for Ms Schiavo's family, according to a disclosure form filed with Florida's Division of Elections.

September 5, 2006

  • Incumbent Florida Senator Jim King (R-Jacksonville) defeats anti-abortion activist Randall Terry in Terry's primary election bid sparked by the politics surrounding Ms. Schiavo's death.

March 21, 2007

  • Terri Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler, writes a column criticizing presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney for stating, "My view was a case like this [Schiavo] would normally be left in the hands of a court."  According to Schindler, Romney was referring to and criticizing the attempt by Congress to help save Ms Schiavo's life. Schindler opines that this statement “could not be more wrong, morally or politically.”  He also speaks out against newspaper editors who won’t publish his letters and praises the work of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation. He criticizes what he characterizes as a media bias in favor of Michael Schiavo, “no matter how patently suspicious his motives and character.” The column appears in "WorldNetDaily.com," a conservative website whose mission includes "revitalizing the role of the free press as a guardian of liberty."

April 26, 2007

  • The Schiavo case appears in the 2008 presidential campaign when Sen. Barack Obama said during a debate that "he regretted not fighting Republican-led efforts in March 2005 to reconnect Ms. Schiavo's feeding tube," according to a Miami Herald report on an MSNBC interview. ''A lot of us, including me, left the Senate with a bill that allowed Congress to intrude where it shouldn't have,'' he said. (See also the entry for February 26, 2008.)

May 27, 2007

  • USA TODAY releases a list, "Lives of indelible impact," of 25 people "who moved us in the past quarter-century. Most are famous, but some are ordinary folks in extraordinary situations. Many became accidental leaders, even heroes, whose spirit enriched our lives." Ms Schiavo is No. 12 on the list, following Mother Teresa and Oprah Winfrey and preceding Michael J. Fox and Arthur Ashe.

Summer 2007

September 14, 2007

  • The Vatican's "Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith" issues a statement saying it is immoral to remove artificial hydration and nurtition from people in permanent vegetative states.. The statement ("Responses to certain questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops concerning artificial nutrition and hydration") is said to have been approved by Pope Benedict. U.S. bishops sought responses to questions about artificial hydration and nutrition in July 2005, shortly after the death of Ms. Schiavo.

November 18, 2007

  • Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson says Ms Schiavo should have been kept alive.

December 11, 2007

  • The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation and Priests for Life jointly announce the establishment of an “International Day of Prayer and Remembrance for Terri Schindler Schiavo, and All of Our Vulnerable Brothers and Sisters” (“Terri’s Day”), to be observed each year on March 31, the date of her death.

January 20, 2008

  • Judge Greer transfers from probate/guardianship court to family court, moving from judging guardianship cases to judging divorce cases. 

February 26, 2008

  • During a presidential primary debate with Sen. Hillary Clinton, then-Sen. Barack Obama responds as follows to moderator Tim Russert's request to identify a statement or vote he'd like to take back: "Well, you know, when I first arrived in the Senate that first year, we had a situation surrounding Terri Schiavo. And I remember how we adjourned with a unanimous agreement that eventually allowed Congress to interject itself into that decisionmaking process of the families. It wasn't something I was comfortable with, but it was not something that I stood on the floor and stopped. And I think that was a mistake, and I think the American people understood that that was a mistake. And as a constitutional law professor, I knew better."

April 30, 2008

  • The nine Republican state senators who played key roles in defeating proposed legislation in the Schiavo case in 2005 mostly stick together in voting down a bill that would have required women to undergo ultrasounds and review the results before obtaining abortions.  Bloggers call the new group the “Ultrasound Seven.”  Of the “Schiavo Nine,” only Sen. J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales voted for this legislation. Nancy Argenziano is no longer in the Senate. The rest of the Schiavo Nine, who became the Ultrasound Seven, are Lisa Carlton, Osprey; Mike Bennett, Bradenton; Paula Dockery, Lakeland; Evelyn Lynn, Ormond Beach; Dennis Jones, Seminole; Jim King, Jacksonville; and Burt Saunders, Naples.

October 14, 2008

  • Christopher Buckley, son of conservative writer and thinker William F. Buckley, who founded The National Review, resigns from his position with the magazine, stating, "While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of 'conservative' government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case."

February 2009

  • A consortium of seven directors of Jesuit university bioethics programs publishes an article in Commonweal magazine questioning papal teaching on withdrawal of artificial hydration and nutrition.

June 2009

  • Fourteen Catholic scholars release a statement in the journal of the National Catholic Bioethics Center, Ethics and Medics, contesting the Jesuits' position and affirming papal teaching.

April 2013

  • Brother Bobby Schindler moves the Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network foundation from Florida to Pennsylvania.

January 2014

January 16, 2014

  • Ms. Schiavo's brother, writing in The Washington Times, likens his sister to the youth in the California case.

February 27, 2014

  • The Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Network announces it will present an award to the family of Jahi McMath, the child in the California brain-death case. The "Terri Schiavo Life & Hope Award" honors those who fight "to protect the dignity of a loved one against overwhelming odds," according to a news release by Ms Schiavo's brother.

March 27, 2014 

Top