Posted on 03/19/2005 12:42:21 PM PST by xjcsa
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal lawmakers reached an agreement on Saturday on a compromise bill to prolong the life of Terri Schiavo, a brain-dead Florida woman whose feeding tube has been removed, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said.
"We are confident that this compromise addresses everyone's concerns," DeLay, a Texas Republican, said at a news conference. "We are confident it will ... restore nutrition and hydration to Miss Schiavo."
Senate leaders earlier had reached a deal to push forward the legislation that would put Schiavo's case into federal court, a Democratic aide said.
The agreement would allow the House of Representatives to reconvene to pass the Senate version of the bill, said Jim Manley, spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record) of Nevada.
Reid and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Republican, reached the agreement a day after doctors followed a court order and removed the feeding tube that has kept Schiavo alive for the last 15 years.
Such cases have traditionally been the province of state courts, state legislatures and families. The bitter family struggle over Schiavo's fate was taken up by Republican lawmakers in Washington last week.
But the bills passed by the House and Senate were vastly different in scope and the two sides were unable to reach a compromise.
The House-passed bill would give federal courts a role in such end-of-life cases, while the Senate's narrower "private relief" bill would give Schiavo's parents access to a federal court without applying in other cases.
The Senate will convene at 5:00 p.m. EST/2200 GMT to vote on adjournment, which would allow the House to reconvene after it declared a recess earlier this week. The House could approve the measure later on Saturday, the Reid aide said.
You beat me to it.
So they are going with the weaker of the 2 bills.
It's Reuters - what else can you expect?
Well, my expletive deleted cost me my post, sorry Mr. Moderator :)
She's not brain dead!
If only this could solve this mess and give justice to all.
May our legislators please work together. This is what they are put into office for to create laws that will insure justice.
Meanwhile, they also have time to take over baseball, but seem to lack the scheduling freedom to tackle issues such as impending economic crises brought on by their own past mistakes.
But a grandstanding stunt like this can't possibly hurt, can it?
Doesn't the fact they waited until AFTER the tube has been removed expose them to the principle that laws cannot be passed to make things that have already happened wrong. Only to make future things wrong.
I'm not a lawyer and I'm not explaining the above exactly correctly.
Where were all the 'States court' advocates when Roe v Wade took abortion decisions from the States?
Reuters = Liars and/or brain-dead.
I'm probably the most pro-life person around, & I think that Mr. Schiavo is the scum of the earth, but where does the Constitution give the federal government the authority to be involved in this matter??????
IT DOESN'T! This is a state & local issue, & unfortunately, Judge Greer down in Florida has made the wrong decision.
Because sick or healthy we are all Americans and deserve the same constitutional rights no matter how the death culture wants to kill.
I don't know why your post was deleted--you censored yourself appropriately. And you were right, too.
Amen
And thats why some of the pro-death people that whine about states rights don't know what they're talking about.
Constitution trumps states rights. Life trumps states rights.
What if California decides to execute white males? Who's business would it be outside of California?
What do you want to be they get back to the "baseball crisis" before we make any progress toward shutting down true scams like Socialist Insecurity?
Praise the LORD for Tom Delay, who states the TRUTH........that our Constitution protects LIFE, and it is Congress' duty to insure that innocent lives are not taken by others.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.