Terri Schiavo and Televised News: Fact or Fiction?

Abstract In the early years of the Terri Schiavo case, there was little to distinguish it from earlier cases that had made their way into courts across the country. The issue of tube feeding patients in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) had already been addressed by a number of state courts, including Florida’s Supreme Court. The tube feeding issue was also at the center of the U.S. Supreme Court case involving Nancy Cruzan. Indeed, the Schiavo case mirrored the Cruzan case in many respects. Both cases involved young married women who suffered anoxic encephalopathy; both were left in a PVS; neither had an advance directive; and both cases involved deciding whether to discontinue tube feeding. In addition, both women came from Catholic families, and both had parents who were actively involved in their legal cases. The only difference seems to have been that Nancy Cruzan’s parents fought to have their daughter’s feeding tube removed, while Terri Schiavo’s parents struggled to keep their daughter’s tube in place.