APFN
Fla. House OKs Reinserting Feeding Tube
Tue Oct 21 01:19:48 2003
64.140.158.18
Fla. House OKs Reinserting Feeding Tube
Florida House Passes Law to Put Brain-Damaged Woman Back on Feeding Tube;
Senate May Act Tuesday
The Associated Press
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031020_2398.html
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. Oct. 20 — The Florida House voted late Monday to give Gov.
Jeb Bush the power to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose
feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order.
The House voted 68-23 in favor of the bill. The state Senate planned to take
it up Tuesday.
The measure would give the state's governor 15 days to order a feeding tube to
be reinserted in cases like Terri Schiavo's. The governor's power would be
limited to cases where a person has 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.
Schiavo, 39, meets all the bill's requirements. She has been at the center of
a decade-long court battle between her parents, who want her to survive, and
her husband, who says he is carrying out his wife's wishes to not be kept
alive artificially.
Bush said in a statement earlier Monday that lawmakers understand the "unique
and tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's case, and I am hopeful the
Legislature will pass a bill immediately."
Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state
since her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance.
The feeding tube was removed Wednesday. As of Monday, doctors estimated Terri
Schiavo would live little more than another week without the feeding.
George Felos, attorney for the husband, Michael Schiavo, said he thinks the
House legislation is unconstitutional. "I don't believe that the Legislature
has the authority to interfere," Felos said.
Courts have affirmed Terri Schiavo's right under the Florida Constitution to
not be kept alive artificially, he added.
Pat Anderson, attorney for the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, said she was
"dumbfounded" by the Legislature's intervention, although the Schindlers had
hoped for just such action.
"Normally it takes the Legislature somewhat longer to come together and solve
a problem than 18 hours," she said. "I guess everybody is kind of riled up
about this."
During two hours of House debate, several Democrats argued that the
Constitution doesn't allow the Legislature to give the governor the power to
overrule the courts.
"This bill so oversteps our role it ... turns democracy on its head," Rep. Dan
Gelber said.
But Republicans said that where judges might be wrong, especially in cases
like Schiavo's, such legislation is desperately needed.
"We're talking about a lot of legalese," GOP Rep. Don Davis said. "The judge
in this case is absolutely wrong. ... Whether it's legal or not, I'm telling
you, you should support this bill."
Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo said Monday he realizes some people disagree with
the court's decision to let him remove the tube and that he has struggled with
it himself.
"But I know in my heart that it is right, and it is what Terri wants," he
said. "There is no longer any realistic hope of Terri's recovery. Perhaps
there never was, but I had to try just as the Schindlers have tried.
"The reality is that Terri left us 13 years ago, and none of us can bring her
back."
In his statement, Schiavo detailed his efforts to rehabilitate his wife,
including three tests that concluded she could not learn to swallow on her
own.
Meanwhile Monday, a Florida watchdog agency for the disabled asked a federal
judge to keep Terri Schiavo alive long enough to investigate a claim that the
removal of the feeding tube is an act of abuse.
Judge Steven Merryday, in Tampa, did not immediately rule on the request from
the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, whose members are appointed
by the state.
Gordon Scott, an attorney for the Tallahassee-based organization, asked the
judge for a 10-day injunction to give it time to investigate.
Felos said the federal judge has no jurisdiction in the case.
photo credit and caption:
Pinellas Park police officers guard the entrance to the Woodside Hospice
Monday, Oct. 20, 2003 in Pinellas Park, Fla., near a round-the-clock vigil
outside the facility where Terri Schiavo is cared for. The feeding tube that
has nourished Schiavo, 39, for 13 years was removed Oct. 15 after a
decade-long legal battle between her husband and parents. (AP Photo/Steve
Nesius)
Copyright 2003 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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