APFN
Fla. Passes Bill Allowing Feeding Tube
Tue Oct 21 18:23:22 2003
64.140.158.83
Fla. Passes Bill Allowing Feeding Tube
News Journal, TX - 8 minutes ago
... Steven Geller, a Democrat. The House approved the bill 73-24 after the
Senate
passed it 23-15. ... Terri's mother broke down crying when she heard the news.
..
http://www.news-journal.com/news/content/news/ap_story.html/National/AP.V5376.AP-Comatose-Woman.html
Fla. Passes Bill Allowing Feeding Tube
By JACKIE HALLIFAX, Associated Press Writer
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031021/ap_on_re_us/comatose_woman_59
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Lawmakers sent Gov. Jeb Bush a bill Tuesday that will give
him the power to order a feeding tube reinserted into a brain-damaged woman
who is at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter
right-to-die battles.
Bush said he will immediately sign the legislation — a victory for Terri
Schiavo's parents, who have been fighting for several years to keep her alive.
Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.
Schiavo's feeding tube was removed last Wednesday after a court ruling in the
husband's favor. Doctors have said the 39-year-old woman will die within a
week to 10 days without food and water.
Lawmakers were already called to the Capitol for a special session on economic
development when they decided to intervene in the case.
Bush said he did not think lawmakers were motivated by politics.
"This is a response to a tragic situation." Bush said. "People are responding
to cries for help and I think it's legitimate."
Sen. Tom Lee said Schiavo would "essentially starve ... to death" without
intervention from lawmakers and the governor.
"It's a pretty awful way to go," said Lee, a Republican.
Opponents said government was stepping in where it had no business being.
"I do not believe the governor of Florida should be making a decision of life
and death rather than the next of kin," said Sen. Steven Geller, a Democrat.
The House approved the bill 73-24 after the Senate passed it 23-15.
After the Senate's vote, a cheer went up among about 80 protesters outside the
Pinellas Park hospice where Terri Schiavo is.
Suzanne Carr, Terri Schiavo's sister, called the development "a miracle, an
absolute miracle."
Terri's mother broke down crying when she heard the news. Her father said he
was still worried.
"We're not home yet, but we're damn near there," Bob Schindler said.
George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, took steps to stop Bush even
before the governor received the bill. He filed a request for an injunction if
Bush issued an order. Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer denied it on
technical grounds, but said Felos could refile the request.
Earlier in Tampa, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday denied a request by an
advocacy group that Schiavo be kept alive so it could investigate whether
removal of the tube was abusive.
Merryday wrote that federal courts — other than the U.S. Supreme Court (news -
web sites) — are forbidden from interjecting themselves into matters already
decided by state courts. He also said the group failed to provide enough
evidence to support its request.
The bill sent to Bush was designed to be as narrow as possible. It is limited
to cases in which the patient left no living will, is in a persistent
vegetative state, has had nutrition and hydration tubes removed and where a
family member has challenged the removal.
Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state,
caused when her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected chemical imbalance.
Bush last week promised the woman's parents that he would help them if he
could find a way.
The Florida Supreme Court (news - web sites) has twice refused to hear the
case, and it also has been rejected for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Last
week, a Florida appeals court again refused to block removal of the tube.
Felos said he thinks the legislation would be unconstitutional. It is Terri
Schiavo's right under the Florida Constitution to not be kept alive
artificially, and the courts have affirmed that, he said.
During a two-hour debate in the House, several Democrats argued that the
Constitution does not let the Legislature give the governor the power to
overrule the courts.
"This bill so oversteps our role it ... turns democracy on its head," said
Rep. Dan Gelber, a Democrat.
But many Republicans and some Democrats said they need to be involved in dire
cases where judges might be wrong.
"The Constitution is supposed to protect the people of this state," said Rep.
Sandy Murman, a Republican from Tampa. "Who is protecting this girl?"
--------------------
Searched news for Terri's Bill.
Sort by relevance Sorted by date
Governor to decide coma woman's fate
BBC News, UK - 5 minutes ago
... The controversial new law - known as Terri's Law, was approved by the
House of Representatives
by 73-24 after the Senate passed it 23-15. The bill was tailored ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3212504.stm
