This episode appears to be based on the 1998-2005 Terri Schiavo case. The central figure in a decade-long legal battle, after a severe 1990 heart attack left her in a permanent vegetative state. Schiavo's husband fought to have her treatment terminated as he contended she would not want to be kept alive by artificial means; her parents strongly opposed his wishes, resulting in a series of cases throughout Florida's court system to determine her fate. The courts ultimately sided with her husband after multiple physicians confirmed that Schiavo's condition was irreversible, and she passed away in March 2005 after her feeding tube was removed.