Best Friends Forever (South Park) - Theme

Theme

The episode "Best Friends Forever" revolves around the Terri Schiavo case, and originally aired in the midst of the controversy and less than 12 hours before she died. The Terri Schiavo case consisted of a seven-year legal effort by Michael Schiavo to have his wife, Terri Schiavo, who was diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state, disconnected from her life-sustaining feeding tube, an action which would result in her death by dehydration. In 1998 he petitioned to remove her feeding tube under Florida Statutes Section 765.401(3). He was opposed by Terri's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, who argued that Terri was conscious. Michael later transferred his authority over the matter to the court, which determined that Terri would not wish to continue life-prolonging measures. In March 2005 President Bush returned to Washington D.C. from a vacation to sign legislation designed to keep Schiavo alive, making the case a major national news story throughout that month. In all, the Schiavo case involved 14 appeals and numerous motions, petitions, and hearings in the Florida courts; five suits in federal district court; Florida legislation struck down by the Supreme Court of Florida; a subpoena by a congressional committee to qualify Schiavo for witness protection; federal legislation (the Palm Sunday Compromise); and four denials of certiorari from the Supreme Court of the United States. The case received increasing amounts of both political and media pressure; eventually, the Supreme Court of Florida ruled in Michael's favor on March 18, 2005.