MIAMI, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- A hearing in Clearwater, Fla., Tuesday will start the process of determining whether "Terri's law" is constitutional.
Terri Schiavo, 40, has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state for 14 years and efforts to allow her to die have been thwarted in the state Legislature and the courts.
The issue is the constitutionality of a law passed by the Florida Legislature allowing Gov. Jeb Bush to order the reinsertion of a feeding tube that has been keeping her alive.
Her husband, Michael Schiavo, had the tube removed with the permission of the courts. He says she had told him before she became ill she would never want to be kept alive by artificial means.
Her parents insist she can be saved and have been fighting the husband every step of the way.
Whichever way the judge rules, the case will be appealed, probably twice.