ACLU Joins Schiavo In Dispute

CLEARWATER - Bolstered by a resourceful new ally, Michael Schiavo on Wednesday filed a detailed brief outlining why Gov. Jeb Bush had no right to get involved in the Terri Schiavo case.

Attorney General Charlie Crist has until Nov. 5 to file his written response on why "Terri's Law" should stand in the face of a variety of constitutional challenges.

The new law granted Bush the power to order doctors to reinsert a feeding tube into Terri Schiavo's stomach six days after the tube was removed and feeding stopped under court order.

The controversial law was drafted, passed by the Legislature and signed into law within hours Oct. 21.

Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union joined Michael Schiavo's attorney in filing a 44-page legal brief detailing why Terri's Law should be ruled unconstitutional.

Attorney George Felos said he welcomed the ACLU's expertise on the issue of separation of powers, which he said prohibits the executive and legislative branches of government from usurping court duties.

Time To Take Sides

The ACLU had avoided taking sides in the matter until Terri's Law was enacted, said Howard Simon, the ACLU's Florida director.

"We had been beseeched by both sides in this case to get involved on one side or the other," Simon said. "We resisted because the courts were following the law, ... then the governor and Legislature changed everything."

If Bush can order that Terri Schiavo's feeding tube be reinserted, he could someday order a cancer patient to undergo unwanted chemotherapy, the ACLU official said. "It's a very dangerous precedent."

Terri Schiavo, 39, has been in what her husband's doctors term a persistent vegetative state since suffering heart failure in 1990.

Michael Schiavo's doctors and one appointed by the court contend his wife has no cognitive function and would not want to be kept alive with no hope of improvement.

Bob and Mary Schindler contend their daughter reacts to them and could improve if given therapy.

After a January 2000 nonjury trial, a judge ruled that Terri Schiavo made statements before her illness indicating she would not want to be kept alive in her current state. That ruling has been upheld repeatedly by appeals courts, and the feeding tube was removed Oct. 15 on court orders.

Bush had the tube reinserted Oct. 21.

Schindlers Object To Guardian

Also Wednesday, the Schindlers' attorneys filed an objection to the appointment of a proposed guardian ad litem to serve as an independent analyst of whether any of Terri Schiavo's rights have been ignored in the ongoing court battle over her fate.

The proposed independent guardian, University of South Florida Professor Jay Wolfson, gave a television interview that aired Oct. 22 in which Schindler attorney Pat Anderson said Wolfson exhibited bias against Terri's Law.

Chief Circuit Judge David Demers suggested Wolfson act as guardian and could appoint a guardian today.

A guardian ad litem would not replace Michael Schiavo as his wife's overall guardian but would have the power to order medical tests without Michael Schiavo's permission.

The Schindlers desire the appointment of a guardian ad litem empowered to investigate a wide range of issues, including whether their daughter would want a divorce, since her husband lives with another woman, has fathered a child by her and has a second on the way, Anderson wrote in a memorandum filed Wednesday.