The Continuing Assault on Personal Autonomy in the Wake of the Schiavo Case

Abstract Core Values Advance directives for health care have been slow to catch on with the American public since their inception in the late 1960s. But that has changed in the wake of the Schiavo case. During the weeks surrounding Terri Schiavo’s death in early 2005, hundreds of thousands of Americans Wooded health care advocacy organizations and state bar associations with requests for advance directive forms. Pre-Schiavo studies suggested that no more than 10 to 20 percent of Americans had given advance directives, but by November 2005 a Pew Research Center study had that number surging to 29 percent.