Posted on Tue, Mar. 15, 2005

FLORIDA LEGISLATURE
New bill aims to save Schiavo
Lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation to prevent the removal of
a brain-damaged woman's feeding tube.
BY GARY FINEOUT
gfineout@herald.com

TALLAHASSEE - With just days left before Terri Schiavo's feeding tube
is to be removed, the Florida Legislature moved once again to
intervene in the case, rushing ahead Monday with a bill to keep the
brain-damaged woman alive.

A vote on ''Terri's Law II,'' put together by top Republicans in the
House and Senate, is expected later this week and could go to Gov. Jeb
Bush for his signature Friday, the same day the tube is scheduled to
be removed.

In late 2003, after Schiavo's feeding tube had been taken out when a
court order permitted it, Bush and lawmakers intervened in the
long-running battle over her fate, passing a law that allowed the
governor to have the tube reinserted. But that effort was ultimately
struck down by the state Supreme Court, which ruled the law
unconstitutional. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the
governor's appeal.

In an effort to get around another legal challenge, legislators have
crafted a much broader bill. It says that no patients in a persistent
vegetative state -- Schiavo's diagnosis -- can have their feeding
tubes removed unless they meet one of several conditions, including:

• They have left written instructions approving the denial of food and
water.

• There is ''clear and convincing evidence'' that before becoming
incapacitated, they ''expressly'' directed the withholding of food and
water.

• Death is imminent and a feeding tube would not help.

''We as a state would have this position for this situation for these
people,'' said Sen. Dan Webster, a Republican from Ocoee and one of
the bill's sponsors. ``The state would err on the side of life.''

And to make sure that the new law would affect Schiavo, a bill
provision states that it would apply to all Floridians in a persistent
vegetative state who are still alive.

BLANKET COVERAGE

''Any life that exists and is presently here today deserves the
benefit of this legislation,'' said Rep. David Simmons, a Longwood
Republican and chairman of the House committee that approved the bill
on Monday. ``I don't care who it is.''

Schiavo, who collapsed 15 years ago and suffered extensive brain
damage because her heart stopped beating, can breathe on her own but
requires a feeding tube for food and water. Her husband, Michael
Schiavo, who says his wife once told him she would never want to be
kept alive artificially, has sought for the past seven years to have
the tube removed, but his efforts have been challenged by Schiavo's
parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

The Schiavo case galvanized religious and conservative organizations,
as well as those who represent the disabled. Those groups say the
state should not allow guardians of an incapacitated person to deny
food and water to someone who can't speak for herself. Many of these
people were on hand Monday as the House Judiciary Committee voted 9-2
to approve ``Terri's Law II.''

But there were others who said this latest bill usurps family rights
and cedes very personal end-of-life decisions to the government. They
warned that the bill could lead to tragic situations in which families
are forced to keep a brain-dead loved one alive.

FEAR OF THE STATE

''I don't think I want the government in my bedroom and I certainly
don't want them on my deathbed,'' said Jean Harden, a Lakeland
resident who initially planned to speak in opposition to the bill but
decided against it when she realized the committee planned to vote in
favor of it.

While some Republicans said they may revise this provision, Rep.
Dennis Baxley, an Ocala Republican and sponsor of the bill, retorted
that ``what is snowballing is a culture of death.''

Two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted against Baxley's
bill Monday: Rep. Dan Gelber of Miami Beach and Rep. Curtis Richardson
of Tallahassee.

VOICE FROM DADE

Gelber said he fears the bill would deny the rights of parents to
decide what to do with incapacitated children, since it would be hard
to decide if a child made an informed decision on end-of-life issues.

''I think we have to resist the impulse to insert our judgment into
what is the most intimate of family decisions,'' Gelber said. ``We
can't simply make a law that is geared toward one scenario.''

Baxley's bill will be heard by its last committee today and is likely
to be passed by the House by the end of the week.

Webster's identical measure is expected to clear its Senate committee
today -- positioning the two chambers to send the legislation to Bush
by Friday.

Several last-minute court appeals are pending.

Lawyers with the Department of Children & Families on Monday appealed
a judge's decision that keeps them from delaying the case.

Last week Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer ruled that he would not
allow the DCF to intervene. Nor would he delay his order allowing the
feeding tube to be removed Friday.

The DCF said it was investigating allegations of abuse, neglect or
exploitation.

The Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland is also considering
appeals from Schiavo's parents.

Herald staff writers Phil Long and Carol Marbin Miller contributed to
this report.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/11137444.htm

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http://www.apfn.org/apfn/terri.htm

Theresa Marie Schiavo's Bone Scan
Michael Schiavo should be arrested and charged immed!
http://www.apfn.org/apfn/Terri_bonescan.htm