ACLJ: Terri Schiavo Death Sentence Should Not Be Carried out.

WASHINGTON -- The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), which represented the parents of Terri Schiavo in a legal battle to keep their daughter alive, said Terri's estranged husband should not carry out a death sentence by removing Terri's feeding tube, which could take place today.

"This death sentence should not be carried out," said Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel of the ACLJ, which represented Mary and Robert Schindler - Terri's parents - at the Supreme Court in their efforts to defend the emergency Florida legislation that saved their daughter's life. "The decision to remove the feeding tube is wrong and we will do everything we can to assist the Florida attorneys representing Terri's parents to ensure that Terri remains alive. There is new medical evidence to suggest that patients like Terri do respond and are more aware of their surroundings than previously thought. We are examining all legal options available - including returning to the U.S. Supreme Court once again on behalf of Terri's parents."

This afternoon, a Florida appeals court could clear the way permitting Terri's estranged husband to remove her feeding tube - a move that will trigger a week-long process of starvation and dehydration.

Last month, the Supreme Court refused to get take the Schiavo case by rejecting an appeal by the Florida Governor's office asking the high court to reverse a decision declaring "Terri's Law" - a state law that reinstated feeding and hydration measures - unconstitutional.

In its brief filed at the Supreme Court, the ACLJ said the decision by the Florida Supreme Court is an "astonishing and unprecedented ruling" and encouraged the high court to send the case back to the Florida Supreme Court for further clarification prior to accepting the case. The brief also argued that the Florida Supreme Court acted unconstitutionally in its decision when it determined that once any court has issued a decree regarding the care and treatment of an incompetent person, neither the legislature nor the executive branch can take independent steps on behalf of the incompetent person's welfare.

The brief also asserted that Terri is not in a persistent vegetative state, as alleged by her husband, that her condition is not terminal and untreatable, and that she is aware of her surroundings and does not want to die - especially by starvation and dehydration.

Governor Bush acting under "Terri's Law," ordered feeding and hydration tubes to be restored to Terri after a Florida trial court had ordered them removed. On behalf of the Schindlers, the ACLJ urged the state's highest court in Bush v. Schiavo to reverse a lower court ruling that struck down "Terri's Law" as unconstitutional. In September 2004, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the lower court decision.

Led by Chief Counsel Jay Sekulow, the American Center for Law and Justice specializes in constitutional law and the protection of human life and is based in Washington, D.C. The ACLJ is online at www.aclj.org.