Dr Kenneth Goodman, an ethics professor at the University of Miami, says that much of the legislation aimed at making it difficult to withdraw care in end-of-life cases had failed to make it onto the statute books.

BBC: NEWS | Americas | Schiavo controversy still rages

But Kenneth W Goodman, an ethics professor at the University of Miami, says religious conservatives are pushing laws that would make it difficult to withdraw care even when a patient's wishes are clear.

BBC: A younger Terri Schiavo