On March 20, 2005, the US Senate passed legislation to move Terri Schiavo's case into the federal court system. Schiavo was a woman living in a vegetative state in Florida whose parents and husband engaged in an eight year battle over extending her life support, which became the centerpiece of a high profile debate about life and disability in the US. In February 2005, a Florida court permitted the removal of her feeding tube. After numerous state court cases and denials by the Supreme Court, her parents turned to Congress and President George W. Bush, who passed the Schiavo bill in an effort to legally revive the issue. The legislation moved the case to federal court, where the order from the Florida court was upheld. Schiavo died 11 days later on March 31, 2005.
Learn more about the Schiavo case from the JURIST news archive.