Gov. Bush calls special session over Terri Schiavo

Firstcoastnews.com ^ | 10-20-03 | Cynthia Capers

[JulieRNR21]

TALLAHASSEE, FL -- According to a news release sent by the Terry Schindler-Schiavo Foundation, Florida Speaker Johnnie Byrd will introduce "Terri's Bill" during the special session Monday.

The bill would put an immediate moratorium on all dehydration and starvation deaths in Florida. Meanwhile, supporters of Terri Schiavo showed up Sunday outside a Pinellas Park hospice.

Doctors say Schiavo has been in a vegetative state since complications from a heart attack in 1990. Her husband was granted a court order that her feeding tube be removed, saying his wife wouldn't have wanted to be kept alive.

[JulieRNR21]

Just sent this email to CNN.....urge all to write:


Judy&Thomas@CNN.COM


CNN:

After getting the malpractice money, Terri Schiavo's husband, Michael stopped all attempts to rehabilitate her.

He's been committing adultery & had had two children with another woman. After many years he suddenly remembers that Terri 'would not have wanted tubes'.

Since he has been living with another woman for some time; should not have been appointed guardian of his disabled wife.
He should have given her guardianship to her loving parents who want to take care of their disabled daughter.

Anyone who has seen the videos of Terri knows that she responds to her parents. She is not comatose nor on life support.

To starve & dehydrate a disabled woman is the cruelest of death sentences. I am glad that the FL House passed a bill against such cruelty.

I pray the FL Senate acts in time to save Terri's life.

(name & town)

[amom]

Another great letter. Thank you JulieRNR21. You folks are so articulate!

[JulieRNR21]

And thank you for posting the alert.

[WrightWings]

Not only is the mailbox full, but the phone system won't transfer you to an operator either.

Keep calling, faxing and e-mailing. This is literally "do-or-die" for Terri, so don't give up.

Continued prayers for Terri...

[JulieRNR21]

Found this on another thread: Note wording of Bill.

Fla. House OKs reinserting feeding tube
AP | 10/21/03 | JACKIE HALLIFAX


TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The Florida House voted late Monday to give Gov. Jeb Bush the power to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order.
The House voted 68-23 in favor of the bill. The state Senate planned to take it up Tuesday.

The measure would give the state's governor 15 days to order a feeding tube to be reinserted in cases like Terri Schiavo's. The governor's power would be limited to cases where a person has 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.

Schiavo, 39, meets all the bill's requirements. She has been at the center of a decade-long court battle between her parents, who want her to survive, and her husband, who says he is carrying out his wife's wishes to not be kept alive artificially.

Bush said in a statement earlier Monday that lawmakers understand the "unique and tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's case, and I am hopeful the Legislature will pass a bill immediately."

Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state since her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance.

The feeding tube was removed Wednesday. As of Monday, doctors estimated Terri Schiavo would live little more than another week without the feeding.

George Felos, attorney for the husband, Michael Schiavo, said he thinks the House legislation is unconstitutional. "I don't believe that the Legislature has the authority to interfere," Felos said.

Courts have affirmed Terri Schiavo's right under the Florida Constitution to not be kept alive artificially, he added.

Pat Anderson, attorney for the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, said she was "dumbfounded" by the Legislature's intervention, although the Schindlers had hoped for just such action.

"Normally it takes the Legislature somewhat longer to come together and solve a problem than 18 hours," she said. "I guess everybody is kind of riled up about this."

During two hours of House debate, several Democrats argued that the Constitution doesn't allow the Legislature to give the governor the power to overrule the courts.

"This bill so oversteps our role it ... turns democracy on its head," Rep. Dan Gelber said.

But Republicans said that where judges might be wrong, especially in cases like Schiavo's, such legislation is desperately needed.

"We're talking about a lot of legalese," GOP Rep. Don Davis said. "The judge in this case is absolutely wrong. ... Whether it's legal or not, I'm telling you, you should support this bill."

Meanwhile, Michael Schiavo said Monday he realizes some people disagree with the court's decision to let him remove the tube and that he has struggled with it himself.

"But I know in my heart that it is right, and it is what Terri wants," he said. "There is no longer any realistic hope of Terri's recovery. Perhaps there never was, but I had to try — just as the Schindlers have tried.

"The reality is that Terri left us 13 years ago, and none of us can bring her back."

In his statement, Schiavo detailed his efforts to rehabilitate his wife, including three tests that concluded she could not learn to swallow on her own.

Meanwhile Monday, a Florida watchdog agency for the disabled asked a federal judge to keep Terri Schiavo alive long enough to investigate a claim that the removal of the feeding tube is an act of abuse.

Judge Steven Merryday, in Tampa, did not immediately rule on the request from the Advocacy Center for Persons with Disabilities, whose members are appointed by the state.

Gordon Scott, an attorney for the Tallahassee-based organization, asked the judge for a 10-day injunction to give it time to investigate.

Felos said the federal judge has no jurisdiction in the case.

[CindyDawg]

Yeah, I know. I wanted to ask them to meet earlier. I'm having trouble with my e-mail so I'm having to make calls. Couldn't get thru . I did reach the governors office though.

[MarMema]

Dear CNN,

I have followed with great interest the legal battle to save the life of Terri Schiavo. It is of enormous importance that this country turn back the tide of the culture of death.

Currently we are following in the steps of those patriotic countrymen in Germany, pre-Hitler, who deemed it compassionate and kind to kill the useless eaters in a state with "scarce resources". Just prior to the mass killings of the disabled, the mentally ill, and war veterans who were injured or amputees, there was a large and very successful right-to-die movement in action.
In this country currently we are seeing a startling similarity.

More worrisome, the most recent medical literature is asking that the concept of death be re-defined to include those who are less responsive or diagnosed as in a "vegetative state". A very recent journal proposal suggests that we not wait until death to harvest useable organs from the critically ill and brain-damaged. It was written by two *pediatric* specialists in the Boston area. It is becoming a given that the weakest and most vulnerable citizens are seen as either discardable or potential organ donors.

I posted a message on an online forum several weeks ago stating that my husband and I were considering moving to a kinder country to live. I was astonished to receive not only several requests posted asking me for more information, but also a flurry of private replies from other families asking for help in doing the same. People wanted to know where we were hoping to go and how they could join us.

As Terri slowly dies an agonizing and painful death, as her husband - who denied her painkilling medicine in an act of absolute sadism and barbarism - tries to convince us that this was a loving act, as the disabled are increasingly frightened to live in America, this country is slowly being perceived by many as no longer great or even safe. We are all simply one auto accident away from being the next involuntary organ donor or victim of the cruelty of terminal dehydration.

Thank you for your assistance in bringing these issues to the public.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Sent the following to Clinton News Network:


Last night I listened to the webcast of the FL House's vote regarding "Terri's Bill." Many of our state's representatives offered their own personal testimony of why this new Bill needs support and passage. I was pleased and relieved with the Bill's passage through the House.

To my dismay, however, I was appalled and sickened to not see the FL Senators waiting in the wings to expedite this Bill's voting in the Senate. I mean...how much time do these *elected* officials think Terri Schiavo has? We are now at Day 6 of no nutrition nor water for this poor woman!

I understand it is a late night, but if this situation doesn't warrant an emergency and immediate session for our legislature, then nothing does.


Palm Beach County, FL

[amom]

Thanks for posting that article. That's not how I understood it to read but I'm not a legal type and must admit I wasn't clear. Trying to find the full text now.

[amom]

Wonderful letter! Excellent. Praying we can turn this tide. A battle I know you have been fighting for much longer than most. Thanks for all you have done to help educate us along the way. Your home page is a place I have visited often for a better idea of this plight.

[amom]

if this situation doesn't warrant an emergency and immediate session for our legislature, then nothing does.

Amen to that! I have been wondering about their concept of emergency. We're talking seconds and they're talking days, weeks, months. Terri DOESN'T HAVE days, weeks, months.

[Pegita]

In the hour of trial, Jesus, plead for me; Lest by base denial, I depart from thee. When thou seest me waver, With a look recall, Nor for fear or favor Suffer me to fall.

We, too, Lord, plead for Terri's life ~ let nothing that man may do cause her to fall ~

[MarMema]

It has been an emotional roller coaster for all of us, and the hardest workers are not here to post very often.

I'm sure we all wish we could do more. It's the beauty of Fr that such teamwork can happen here. No doubt JimRob has been very supportive of us all and of Terri, so thank God for this place and these people.

[utahagen]

St. Therese of Lisieux, please shower roses and water upon Terri Schiavo. Please help her hang on long enough to benefit from the bill that should be passed later today.

Holy Spirit, speed the Florida senators as they debate.

[amom]

thank God for this place and these people.

Agreed. I have thought this many times in the last few weeks. I think I'll send in another dono, on Terri's behalf this time. The least I can do.

[iowamomforfreedom]

Thanks amom.

See post #1072 - CNN want's to know what we think. Let's tell 'em!

[amom]

Oh amen, Pegita. Yes

[Pegita]

It seems the communication lines to Flordia are on overload, MarMema ~ thank God. We're equal opportunity blasters ~ what was done to the Legislature in the way of communication, we did to the Senate at the same time. Equal heat for all ~ may it be soon that Terri is restored, to the glory of God ~ and to the joy of her parents ..

[amom]

Thank you so much!

I have to leave for awhile and get my younger to school (private and we have no bus ;-). I'll check back in as I can. You follks are the BEST!