Lawmakers send Bush bill giving him power infeeding-tube case (Passed In House & Senate- Full Story)

AP | 10/21/03 | JACKIE HALLIFAX

[kattracks]

October 21, 2003, 4:14 PM EDT

TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers sent Gov. Jeb Bush a bill that will give him the power to order a feeding tube be reinserted into a brain-damaged woman in defiance of courts and her husband.

Bush said he will immediately sign the bill and order the tube to be reinserted into Terri Schiavo, the subject of one of the nation's longest and most bitter legal battles over care for a disabled person.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, want her to live. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed last Wednesday. Doctors have said the 39-year-old woman will die within a week to 10 days without nutrition 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, R-Brandon.

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, D-Hallandale.

The House approved the bill 73-24 after the Senate passed it 23-15.

George Felos, a lawyer for Michael Schiavo, asked a judge to stop Bush even before he received the bill. A hearing was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon.

Earlier in Tampa, U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday denied a request by the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, which monitors the treatment of disabled adults, 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 _ 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 potassium imbalance.

Bush last week promised the woman's parents that he would help them if he could find a way.

The Florida Supreme Court 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.

Pat Anderson, the attorney for the parents, said she was ``dumbfounded'' by the Legislature's action, although the Schindlers had hoped for such help in the wake of continued court defeats.

During a two-hour debate in the House, several Democrats argued that the Constitution doesn't 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, D-Miami Beach.

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, R-Tampa. ``Who is protecting this girl?''

Former Florida Supreme Court Justice Stephen Grimes said the case is unique and it is not clear whether the law will be upheld.

``It presents a new legal issue that I've never heard of,'' Grimes said.

Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

[syriacus]

Thanks for the ping, Uno Animo.

Hallelujah II!!

[JustPiper]

A MUST READ for all who have not seen this!

RobinsonforCongress.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: OCTOBER 21, 2003 CHRIS YOUNCE 336.575.3690

Councilman Vernon Robinson Goes to Florida
to Join Those Supporting Terri Shiavo

PINELLAS PARK, FL – Winston-Salem City Councilman Vernon Robinson will miss tonight’s committee meetings of the Winston-Salem City Council because he has joined the hundreds who have assembled in Florida to support Bob and Mary Schindler in their fight to keep their daughter, Terri Schiavo, alive (visit www.terrisfight.org for more information).

The feeding tube keeping Terri Schiavo alive was recently removed, culminating a decade-long legal fight between her parents and her husband, Michael Schiavo. Terri has received no food or liquid since 2 p.m. last Wednesday. Terri lies dying a horrible death while her parents and loved ones are kept from her side by armed guards. Though Terri is Catholic, last rites cannot be performed because the court order forbids the placement of any nutrition in her mouth.

Hundreds of concerned citizens and pro-life activists from all over the country have sojourned to Florida to witness the involuntary euthanization of Terri at the direction of her estranged husband and his accomplices in the Florida judiciary.

The demonstration includes an ongoing prayer vigil as well as an ongoing effort to lobby Florida legislators to intervene in this urgent, life-or-death matter. Governor Jeb Bush has called the legislature into a special session today for the purpose of adopting the House Speaker’s legislation (“Terri’s Bill”) that is designed to save Terri’s life.

Terri Shiavo is the young woman being starved to death in Hospice care by order of the Florida courts. Terri suffered massive injuries several years ago that left her in a severe physical condition and in need of major therapy. However, her husband has seen to it that Terri has received no therapy or medical treatment, making it abundantly clear to all that his only wish was for Terri to just hurry up and die (and yes, there is a lot of life insurance money at stake and he is living with his mistress with whom he has had children).

The mainstream media have perpetuated the myth that Terri is in a coma or a persistent vegetative state when in fact she is very responsive to the attention and instructions given to her by others. The media have also alleged that Terri is on life support, which she most assuredly is not. The only way Terri is assisted is by a feeding tube. Her injuries have left her unable to chew or speak because she has been denied any type of rehabilitation.

Nurses and countless others have filed affidavits with Florida’s legal system stating that Terri’s husband is extremely abusive towards her and that he actually tried to kill her by giving her injections of pure insulin while she lay in the hospital. Three nurses claim that her husband has repeatedly asked, “Is the bitch dead yet?”

Councilman Vernon Robinson said, “What is the world coming to when all respect for the sanctity of life has gone out the window? What civilized society would tolerate such barbaric treatment of an innocent, disabled citizen? A convicted murderer on death row gets more respect than Terri Schiavo has gotten. This travesty of justice means that it’s now open season on anyone whose life is inconvenient for somebody else – in other words, the unborn, the disabled, and the elderly. We are going to stand witness to this atrocity so that Terri’s senseless murder won’t be unnoticed, forgotten, or in vain.”


PAID FOR BY ROBINSON FOR CONGRESS ROBINSONFORCONGRESS.COM

[supercat]

Just wait for a Dem legislature and Dem governor to use this tactic against a ruling by a Conservative judge and cite this as precedent.

If the executive and legislature are not supposed to check the judiciary, who is?

[Dog Gone]

I wondered about that. When the reports said she could live a couple of weeks without the feeding tube, I didn't believe it. I don't think you'd make it a week without water. There may have been an IV in place all along.

[JustPiper]

As of 4pm

Both house of Florida's legislature have passed "Terri's bill," designed to empower Gov. Jeb Bush to order the reinstatement of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

Bush said he will immediately sign the bill and order that the 39-year-old brain-damaged woman begin receiving sustenance again. Schiavo has gone without food since Wednesday, when her feeding tube was removed by order of her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo.

Go to WorldNetDaily for the latest details:

http://wnd.com/

[Michael121]

It is because she had no living will andit was her husbands words against no one else. It is to stop a husband or wife from getting any benefits from a spouse who is unable to say otherwise.

If not this, then when you are in a coma your spouse can say he/she wanted to be unplugged. And they get the life insurance, the house, etc....

[MontanaBeth]

Could you quote where in the Constitution it says the government, at the urging of an estranged husband, can have his wife slowly dehydrated/straved to death. She is also protected by that Constitution, not just people able to walk and talk.

[JustPiper]

They delivered the order from Jeb over an hour ago and said that they would honor it and begin immediately! They said this is for the courts to sort out but they will honor Jeb's order, beginning the minute they received it!

[JustPiper]

Exactly what they said, are proceeding with caution, but started the IV and hopefully that IV is chock full of electrolytes!

[Lunatic Fringe]

My real complaint is that I think this sets a bad precedent that the legislature can overturn a court ruling with a capricious, fit to purpose law.

As is intended by the separation of powers....

[Cool Guy]

Then I presume, she is being fed right now.

[pitinkie]

HAHA

[JustPiper]

Absolutely! Kay Bailey stated exactly what you said on MSNBC

[adam_az]

Can you go back to read my post and make a comment regarding what I actually pointed out, and address my concernt that the effect of this will be felt much more widely than in this one case?

[Cool Guy]

They started the IV already? Wonderful!

[katnip]

You are never gonna convince anyone here that stopping the murder of an innocent woman is against our Constitution.

Now go away. We are having champagne right now!!

[Dog Gone]

This is not a right-to-die case, wherein one makes their own request, this is a right-to-kill case, in which one person is asking the courts the authority to kill another.

I disagree somewhat with statement. Most people do not have a directive to physicians, or Living Will, and family members make these decisions in hospitals every day in this country. They make the decision to pull the plug, the hospitals respect it, and the courts never get involved.

This case has a lot of unique factors which have made it very controversial, but we let family members kill family members without their permission in a hospital setting all the time.

[utahagen]

I keep asking that. I won't celebrate until Terri's actually getting some fluids.

Freepers, does anyone know for a fact that Terri is getting fluids in some form? Please post.

[Deo volente]

Why is it that the sludge only appears here at times like this?

These disrupters are here for only one purpose, to taunt and mock.

IGNORE THEM.

Let them slink back into the sewer from which they came.