Doctors to Remove Patient's Feeding Tube Story aired: Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Sometime later today, doctors in Florida will remove the feeding tubes from 39-year-old Terri Schiavo.
Schiavo has been in a vegetative state for 13 years. Her heart stopped beating briefly in 1990 and left her severely brain damaged, unable to speak or feed herself, and some say, unable to think or feel.
Her husband Michael has been fighting in court to remove the tube, claiming Terri once said she would choose death over such a life.
However, she left no written instructions, and her parents and siblings, along with several right to life organizations have argued that she is struggling to live and could perhaps be rehabilitated.
A state supreme court judge sided with the husband, and once the tube is removed today, Terri Schiavo is expected to die within weeks.
Guests:
George Annas, a medical ethicist at Boston University.
