Posted on 10/20/2003 5:05:50 PM PDT by varina davis
Fla. Lawmakers May Pass Tube-Feeding Law
October 20, 2003 07:17 PM EDT
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida lawmakers were moving Monday to consider intervening in the case of a severely brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order.
The Florida House scheduled a Monday night session to take up the issue. In the Senate, President Jim King said he will propose legislation that would give Gov. Jeb Bush the authority to order the feeding tube be reinserted to keep Terri Schiavo alive.
The tube was removed Wednesday following a decade-long court battle between Schiavo's parents and their son-in-law, who contends that he is carrying out her wishes not to be kept alive artificially.
"If we are to err - because time is of the essence - for goodness sake let us err on the side of caution," said King, a Republican.
Schiavo has been in what doctors call a vegetative state since her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance.
Bush told parents Bob and Mary Schindler last week that his staff would search for legal ways to save their daughter's life, but said Monday they haven't yet found a way.
"The legal ways, the remedies, don't exist," Bush said Monday, before the possible legislative moves became apparent.
Bush added, "I wish I could wave the magic wand and resolve this but every effort that we've had or every effort that has been proposed has either been thwarted by the courts or would be inappropriate."
Meanwhile, in a statement released through his lawyer, husband Michael Schiavo said Monday that he, too, is grieving, but "I did what I believe Terri would have wanted me to do."
Scargel says yes.
Richardson asks Scargel how a circuit judge can appoint a guardian and usurp the legal guardianship of a husband.
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