New documentary revisits Terri Schiavo case

• Schiavo became "a vessel into which people poured their need for miracles, their convictions about personal liberty... and their terror of letting go," the Tampa Bay Times wrote in her obituary.

Flashback: In the early morning of February 25, 1990, Schiavo collapsed in the hallway of her St. Petersburg apartment and stopped breathing. The lack of oxygen left her brain with irreparable damage.

• Her husband, Michael Schiavo, petitioned to remove her feeding tube after years of rehabilitation yielded no improvement. Her parents contested the move, leading to a seven-year legal back-and-forth.
• The right-to-die case featured interventions from then-Gov. Jeb Bush, Republicans in the Florida Legislature, U.S. Congress and the White House — even the pope weighed in.
• Courts, however, sided with Schiavo's husband, and she died nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed in March 2005.

Zoom in: The filmmakers interviewed George Greer — a retired Florida circuit judge who presided over the case — Schiavo's mother and siblings, lawyers from both sides of the dispute and reporters.

• The documentary captures a moment in Tampa Bay's history when faith and politics collided, familial disputes transformed into culture wars, and the government entered doctors' offices.
• A moment, the film argues, that echoes today, with the fall of Roe v. Wade leading to crackdowns on abortion rights in many states.

What they're saying: "After Terri Schiavo died, more than ever, I think the people on the religious right realized we need to change the federal judiciary," Jon Eisenberg, appellate lawyer, said in the documentary.

• "You don't like the courts? Change the membership," he added.