The Terri Schiavo Case
Bill sets rules for all like Schiavo
The proposed law says the terminally ill must get food and water unless a living will says otherwise.
By STEVE BOUSQUET, Times Staff Writer
Published March 10, 2005
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/10/State/Bill_sets_rules_for_a.shtml
TALLAHASSEE - The Legislature's first attempt to keep Terri Schiavo's feeding tube connected was a law tailored to her case, but the Florida Supreme Court struck it down unanimously.
Now, lawmakers are pushing a broader proposal that could affect thousands of Floridians lying incapacitated in hospitals, hospices and nursing homes.
The new bill would require that food and water be given to terminally ill people unless they specified in a living will that they did not want to be kept alive that way. A verbal declaration to relatives or loved ones would not necessarily be recognized.
And the bill says the Legislature, not a judge, has the final say in an end-of-life case. It also would apply retroactively, to cover the Schiavo case.
"I certainly hope that whatever error I make is on the side of allowing someone to live rather than to die," said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who sponsored the bill. "I have an intimate respect for human life, for the special gift that it is, and I hope that this is a defining moment for our culture."
Critics, including doctors and lawyers who deal with terminally ill patients, called the bill "antifamily" and say it would allow the state to step in and override the wishes of relatives and loved ones.
"This is one of the most antifamily bills that I've ever seen come across this Legislature," said Larry Spalding of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida. "The key unit of society is the family, and you're taking away the rights of the family."
After two hours of emotional debate and much critical testimony, a House committee approved the bill Wednesday 7-4. It was a party-line vote with Republicans voting in favor of the bill (HB 701) and Democrats voting against.
Republican Reps. Gus Bilirakis of Palm Harbor and Ed Homan of Tampa voted yes. Democrat Bob Henriquez of Tampa voted no.
"We're passing a bill that is based on one terrible, tragic situation," said Henriquez, one of the few Democrats who voted for the initial Schiavo bill.
Baxley told reporters that while his bill was motivated by the Schiavo case, it is designed for all people in end-of-life situations. He said his goal was to prevent any guardian from deciding for someone without that person's permission.
But despite the determination of Baxley and others, the legislation may not take effect in time to impact Schiavo.
A judge has ordered the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube removed by March 18, in accordance with what her husband, Michael, has said was her wish not to be kept alive by artificial means. Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, insist their daughter is not in a permanent vegetative state.
Legislative leaders, stung by criticism of last year's hastily passed law, are moving a lot slower.
"I just don't think we're doing a service to Terri by ginning up a bill and getting it out quickly in helter-skelter fashion. That doesn't work," House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, said Wednesday.
Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said his goal was to be "fair to all the people who have feelings about end-of-life issues."
Dr. Howard Tuch of Hospice of Southwest Florida in Sarasota, a member of a state commission on end-of-life care, warned that the bill would force thousands of patients in nursing homes and assisted living centers to have feeding tubes surgically attached.
Those patients may not have wanted to be kept alive artificially, Tuch said, but they did not write it down in advance. He cited the case of his mother, who's dying of Alzheimer's disease.
Tuch has authority to make end-of-life decisions on her behalf.
"Are you going to force her to have a feeding tube?" Tuch asked legislators. "Who is going to provide consent for that medical procedure? I'm not."
Lawyer Twyla Sketchley predicted a "gold mine" for lawyers who would tell clients to rewrite their living wills. She called it "extremely disheartening" that Baxley crafted his bill without seeking input from medical experts.
In his closing statement to the committee, Baxley's voice trembled as he spoke of how it's a crime to starve a dog to death.
"We treat an animal in our society with at least the respect that you get food and water," Baxley said. "Let it be that we let somebody live."