CLEARWATER, Fla., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A Florida judge has rejected Gov. Jeb Bush's request that a brain-damaged woman continue to be represented by an independent guardian.
Chief Judge David Demers ruled Friday he would not reappoint a guardian for Terri Schiavo, citing pending litigation over the constitutionality of the law that called for the guardian in the first place, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
"Terri Schiavo yet again has been denied an independent voice in the proceedings that may very well determine the outcome of her life," Bush's office said in a statement.
Florida courts repeatedly have said Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband and legal guardian, has the right to remove the feeding tube that has kept her alive. Her parents want to keep her alive and see if she will respond to therapy, and dispute the husband's contention that she had said she didn't want to be kept alive artificially.
The tube was removed for six days in October until the Legislature and the governor stepped in to have it reinserted and an independent guardian appointed for her.
Terri Schiavo collapsed in 1990 at age 26 when her heart stopped from what doctors believe was a chemical imbalance.
