26 August 2003: Florida Governor Jeb Bush asks court to appoint new guardian for Mrs Schiavo; court does not act
17 September 2003: Judge orders feeding tube removal on 15 October
22 September 2003: Parents petition Federal Court
15 October 2003: Doctors remove Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube
21 October 2003: Florida's lower house passes a law giving Jeb Bush the power to order doctors to feed Mrs Schiavo - the law is known as "Terri's Law"
22 October 2003: Doctors start giving fluids to Mrs Schiavo and a day later her feeding tube is reinserted
30 October 2003: Michael Schiavo asks Florida Court to strike down Terri's law as unconstitutional
6 May 2004: County Court rules that Terri's Law is unconstitutional and a violation of the right to privacy
23 September 2004: Florida's Supreme Court strikes down Terri's Law
4 October 2004: Jeb Bush files motion for rehearing of Mrs Schiavo's case
1 December 2004: Jeb Bush asks US Supreme court to accept the case for review
25 January 2005: US Supreme Court rejects Jeb Bush's appeal to change ruling
23 February 2005: Judge extends a last-minute stay and orders that doctors must wait for a further court ruling before removing Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube
25 February 2005: County Court judge issues a three week stay
12 March 2005: Michael Schiavo refuses an offer of $1m (£520,000) from a Californian businessman to keep his wife alive
16 March 2005: Florida Appeals Court refuses to block removal of Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube and sets 18 March 2005 as the day the tube will be removed
17 March 2005: The Schindlers file an emergency motion at the US Supreme Court to block the removal of Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube.
They say lower courts need time to consider whether their daughter's religious freedom and due process rights have been violated.
18 March 2005: The US House of Representatives and US Senate both move to block the removal of Mrs Schiavo's feeding tube - but Judge Greer rejects the manoeuvres and orders the tube removed.
20 March 2005: The Senate passes an emergency bill calling for a federal court to review the case.
21 March 2005: The House of Representatives backs the bill in the early hours of the morning, and it is signed almost immediately into law by President Bush.
22 March 2005: A Florida judge refuses to order doctors to resume feeding, on the grounds that the family is unlikely to win a new court case.
23 March 2005: A panel of appeal judges backs the Florida decision.
24 March 2005: The US Supreme Court refuses to hear an emergency appeal by Mrs Schiavo's parents, and later a Florida judge rejects a petition by Governor Jeb Bush to become her legal guardian.
Eighteen months is a long time to pander, but those Bush boys seem to have unlimited stamina for wrong-headedness (cf. George W and his limp take-it-to-the-shills campaign for Social Security privatization).
Someday we'll need to remember how profoundly Jeb Bush pandered to his perceived base, in all opposition to actual public opinion.
