The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Clause 1: ...
Clause 2: In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Supreme Court was not mentioned in the Schiavo Law.
If Congress has any juevos, it will look for a collision with the judicial branch under Article III. Regardless of what you think of the policy behind the statute, the federal judiciary told Congress to pound sand. In the 11th Circuit decision, Judge Birch ripped Congress up one side and down the other in intemperate rhetoric for directing a de novo hearing. THe federal courts viewed this case as mainly a @#$% measuring contest between the legislative and judicial branches. We live in an age of an imperial judiciary, not just in the Schiavo case but many others (e.g. citing foreign law in decisions, abortion, etc.) It has gotten to a point where it does not matter what a freely elected legislature enacts because in the end the judiciary controls what is law and what is not. Congress has a real problem on its hands and it has got to take action or be dismissed as irrelevant.
Congress can under Article III set jurisdictional limits for the federal courts. The problem here is deep and starts in law school. Law students are and were well trained in parsing language and manipulating language to effectuate their own policy preferences rather than apply the law as enacted. That's one reason why so many judges "grow" in office and disappoint conservatives who appointed them. The long term solution to this problem is for Congress to assert itself and redefine federal court jurisdiction. The Schiavo case is one prime example, but so would many others, like using foreign law to subordinate the will of the American people.
If COngress does nothing, this problem simply gets worse and we will be living in an oligarchy, assuming we haven;t already arrived.