Fla. Gov. Orders Feeding Tube Reinserted
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- Invoking a law rushed through the Legislature only an hour earlier, Gov. Jeb Bush ordered a feeding tube reinserted Tuesday into a brain-damaged woman at the center of one of the nation's longest and most bitter right-to-die battles.
The bill was designed to save the life of Terri Schiavo, whose parents have fought for several years to keep her alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she would rather die.
The woman was taken by ambulance later Tuesday from the hospice where she had gone without food or water for six days. She was to be given fluids at a Clearwater hospital before again being fed through a tube.
Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed by court order at her husband's insistence last Wednesday, and doctors said the 39-year-old woman would die within a week to 10 days without food and water.
The Senate voted 23-15 for the legislation, and the House passed the final version 73-24 only minutes later. Bush signed it into law and issued the order just more than an hour later.
After the Senate's vote, a cheer went up among about 80 protesters outside Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park.
"We are just ecstatic," Bob Schindler said after Bush told him he would issue the order. "It's restored my belief in God."
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.
Then Bob, it was more than worth the fight. God bless you and give you rest from this battle...