Posted on 03/20/2005 2:52:24 PM PST by Jean S
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate passed a bill that could prolong Terri Schiavo's life while a federal court considers her case while House Republicans, stymied by Democrats, scrambled to bring enough lawmakers back to the Capitol for an emergency vote early Monday.
GOP leaders planned a House vote just past midnight, hours after the Senate approved the bill by voice vote. President Bush rushed back from his Texas for a chance to sign the measure.
The plan had been for the House to act first and then the Senate to pass the House version. But with Democrats forcing a delay in the House, the Senate went ahead and passed its own, identical, version by unrecorded voice vote.
That means the House will be acting on the Senate-passed bill, still enabling the legislation to be hurried to Bush for signature into law.
The White House said the president would act as soon as the measure reaches him.
"We ought to err on the side of life in a case like this," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. Asked about a bill that would cover a single person, he said, "I think most people recognize that this case involves some extraordinary circumstances."
Lawmakers who left Washington on Friday for the two-week Easter recess had to make abrupt changes in plans, backtracking for a dramatic and politically contentious vote.
Democrats expressed sympathy for the severely brain-damaged Florida woman and for the plight of her family. But they also accused Republicans of ramming through constitutionally questionable legislation to satisfy the agenda of their conservative allies.
In a special session Sunday afternoon, Democrats refused to allow the bill to be passed without a roll call vote.
Under House rules, such a vote could not occur until Monday, thus the plans for a vote at 12:01 a.m. Monday at which at least 218 of the 435-member House must appear. Also, because it was an expedited vote, the measure needed votes from two-thirds of those present for passage.
The House has 232 Republicans, 202 Democrats and one independent.
The legislation would give Schiavo's parents the right to file suit in federal court over the withdrawal of food and medical treatment needed to sustain the life of their daughter.
It says the court, after determining the merits of the suit, "shall issue such declaratory and injunctive relief as may be necessary to protect the rights" of the woman. Injunctive relief in this case could mean the reinserting of feeding tubes.
"It gives Terri Schiavo another chance," Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., said after the late-afternoon voice vote in a near-empty Senate chamber. "It guarantees a process to help Terri, but does not guarantee a particular outcome."
Frist also noted that the bill, responding to some Democratic objections, does not affect state assisted suicide laws or serve as a precedent for future legislation.
Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., said members scattered across the globe were being summoned back to Washington by aides to House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
Blunt's office sent a notice to members on their handheld computers Friday to be prepared to return to Washington on Sunday, said spokeswoman Burson Taylor.
In emergencies, when that does not work, the whip's office activates a phone tree, where one member is charged with calling the next. "We do anticipate a quorum," she said.
Smith added, "It should come as no surprise to any members reading a newspaper or watching TV. Smith canceled an official trip to Albania to escort Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, to Capitol Hill press conferences Sunday.
The Democratic whip, Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said his office was informing members of the vote and not discouraging them from returning to the capital. But he said the party was not counting votes and was telling members to vote their conscience on the issue.
Schiavo has been in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years. Her feeding tubes were removed Friday afternoon at the request of her husband, who says that his wife expressed to him before she fell ill that she did not want to be kept alive under such circumstances.
House and Senate committees at the end of the week issued subpoenas seeking to force the continuation of treatment, but that move was rejected by a Florida court.
Schiavo could linger for one or two weeks if the tube is not reinserted, as has happened twice before.
Republicans defined their extraordinary efforts in the context of the sanctity of life: "A society is judged by the way that it treats its most vulnerable citizens," said Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.
"No person in America should be deprived of the right to life without due process of law and Terri Schiavo is no different," Pence said.
But Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., spoke of "the manifestation of a constitutional crisis" where Congress, for ideological reasons, was ignoring the separations of power written into the Constitution.
Republicans distanced themselves from a memo suggesting GOP lawmakers could use the case to appeal to Christian conservative voters and to force Democrats into a difficult vote.
"I hope we're not ... making this human tragedy a political issue," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told ABC's "This Week." "We've got plenty of other issues that are political in nature for us to fight about."
AP-ES-03-20-05 1721EST
This story can be found at: http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBPGFETJ6E.html
So you and Michael Schiavo are both doctors and lawyers. Glad to know that.
Since you are, then what is your opinion of the fact of Terri trying to say "I want to live" causing so much fuss in the Hospice?
People who are Persistive Vegetative State are not responsive, so what is your and Michael Schiavo's expert opinions?
Great post.
PVS is her diagnosis is it not?
So when you say you "I never said anything about PVS.", what is it you are discussing?
I thought we were talking about the facts of this case, of Terri's condition. The condition which allows for the removal of her feeding tubes.
What is the point of discussing or arguing other conditions that do not apply to Terri?
Did I err and refer to her condition as brian dead? If I did and confused the matter I appologize.
C-Span Now--Live coverage of the house
Terri is losing her life over this in Fl!
McCain's comment made me puke.
Regardless, the guardian ad litem WAS NOT PROVIDED FULL ACCESS TO ALL MEDICAL RECORDS. You discredit the dozens of doctors and hold up the g.a.l.
Preposterous, you are.
This occurred on Friday afternoon at the hospice. Attorney Barbara Weller [who could and should be removed from the Bar association if she has lied about this] as well as Terri's sister Suzanne were in attendence.
Terri first uttered "Ahhhh" [for "I"] and then paused for a while and mustered as must strength as she could, and almost yelled "waaaaa" [for want].
Then Terri started crying because she could not say the rest [complete it with "to live"].
It took a while to settle Terri down after this.
It is truly remarkable what a person in "PVS" as "doc30" calls can do!!! Maybe their is a mis-diagnosis there!!!
I agree...see post#109
As I said the other night, I have seen way too many seemingly hopeless cases walk back into the neuro unit after lengthy rehab to thank us for everything we did.
Thanks.
Some people are so blind with emotion.
Like the other fella I said was hallucinating you are seeing words that I never typed.
I'll asked that you do the same as the other guy and quote and reference by post # where I said I believed he was a caring husband.
The reason the state can say she is PVS is not that Terri is PVS. It is quite the opposite.
It is because the legal system is broken big time in this case.
Very early in the court proceedings [apparently in the 1990's], the Schindlers were given bad advice to concede that Terri is PVS. However, any medical condition can be mis-diagnosed.
If you doubt that, then you are saying, by your logic, that the world famous miler from Kansas Glenn Cunningham should have all his records erased, all his trophies reclaimed and medals returned.
Why? As a boy, doctors [plural] claimed he would never walk again. He not only walked, he learned to run.
Additionally, PVS patients do not respond vocally to questions. Terri has learned to say "Yes" and "No" -- though it is rather crude.
On Friday, one of Terri's attorneys, Barbara Weller, asked Terri to just say "I want to live". Terri first said "Ahhhh" [for "I"]. Then Terri paused and drew up all the strength she could and shouted out "Waaaa". This caused the policeman and Terri's brother-in-law [her sister Suzanne's husband] to come into the room. Terri's sister Suzanne was in the room with Barbara Weller.
At this point, Terri started crying because she could not continue with "to" and "live". It took a while to calm Terri down.
Now, is this the activity of a PVS person?
I watched Dr. Frist in the Sen and the House Pubbies presser on CSPAN. One of the Reps doing most of the talking was a doc from FLA (I think his name was Weldon, but I'm not positive on that). Smith from NJ was the other and both were great! Either Dr. Frist or Dr. Weldon(?) (I think it was the latter) said that he had spoken to a doc (hers I believe) and did not believe she was PVS and could be helped. That the technology today was great. At the very least, she should be provided w more tests. I could be wrong, but I think he said he asked to see her and it was denied. I'll check CSPAN to see if by chance they have the transcripts.
You mean Jay Wolfson? I recall he openly stated that he was against Terri's law even before he met her.
What should happen would be for doctors who want Terri alive to be allowed some reasonable period of time to work with Terri to develop a protocol where she can respond in clearly distinguishable non-reflexive manners to some stimuli. Once they have discovered a set that works well, allow Michael or whomever to select a random sequence in which stimuli will be prevented. Give a transcription of Terri's responses, with the actual stimuli obscured, to another pro-Terri person to try to identify the sequence in which the stimuli were prevented.
This is a test which no amount of wishful thinking would allow Terri to pass if she was PVS, but which would at the same time give Terri the benefit of being tested by people who want her to live.
We are fortunate that there is no war budget to manage, no labor or foreign trade issues, no problem with the economy, healthcare or social security problems to be dealth with. We're damn lucky to have a House and Senate populated by zealots anxious beyond description to become the Hyper-Supreme Court of Florida in combination with instant physicians able to supervene the evaluations of several panels who have made a determination consistent with the criteria set out by the Florida Legislature and courts.
This thing long ago ceased being about the patient and became a power game for the radio talking heads, the extreme Right and those to whom winning the power game is more important than the law or the game's subject. It's a muscle flexing exercise intended to demonstrate to those out of power that they are impotent in the face of the inmates now running the asylum.
Or a deliberately spiked diagnosis?
Who Neil Boortz?? Name them.
"And your lust for your one agenda, using this case to ride to Congress, is going to cost you the one thing you have now: a party in power that can actually DO something about this."
And they are. This case is a GOOD start.
"This is going to destroy the GOP."
Hogwash. LOL! The very idea is laughable and fearmongering at its best!
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