Posted on 12/03/2003 2:46:09 AM PST by phenn
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGAN946WQND.html
From the Article: Senate Bill 692, introduced by Republican state Sen. Stephen Wise of Jacksonville, would prohibit courts from ordering feeding tubes removed from any mentally incompetent patient in Florida who doesn't have a living will or other advance directive stating otherwise. Experts predict fewer than 12 percent of American adults have living wills.
Not so fast, King said. When asked Tuesday whether Wise's bill would get a hearing in the coming session, he abruptly answered, ``No.''
In the 1980s, King was the architect of Florida's right-to- die law, considered a national death-with-dignity model and touted by the Senate leader as one of his key accomplishments.
``I don't want anything on the floor in that Senate that is going to give platforms to people who want to roll back the hands of time for whatever reason,'' King said. ``As soon as you put something on the floor, as well-intended as it may be, anybody can amend it. Then all of a sudden I'm sitting there facing a bill or bills that can dismantle what I consider to be my legacy.''
(Excerpt) Read more at news.tbo.com ...
FLORIDIANS: Please contact Senate Leader Jim King on king.james.web@flsenate.gov and urge him to allow Senate Bill 692 to be heard.
You can also contact Stephen Wise on wise.stephen.web@ flsenate.gov to thank him for his efforts.
Changes Proposed In Right-To-Die LawsBy JEROME R. STOCKFISCH
jstockfisch@tampatrib.comTALLAHASSEE - Weeks after Gov. Jeb Bush and the Legislature intervened in the Terri Schiavo case, a lawmaker is proposing to rewrite Florida's right-to-die statutes to make it harder to remove feeding tubes from all comatose patients.
Senate Bill 692, introduced by Republican state Sen. Stephen Wise of Jacksonville, would prohibit courts from ordering feeding tubes removed from any mentally incompetent patient in Florida who doesn't have a living will or other advance directive stating otherwise. Experts predict fewer than 12 percent of American adults have living wills.
The measure faces stiff opposition. Senate President Jim King, a fellow Jacksonville Republican who helped craft the state's current right-to-die statutes and controls which bills reach the chamber floor, said Tuesday that Wise's bill will go nowhere in the 2004 session.
Wise said it's the Schiavo case that persuaded him to introduce the ``Starvation and Dehydration of Persons with Disabilities Prevention Act.'' The measure would require courts and medical professionals to presume that mentally incapacitated patients would want life-sustaining nutrition and hydration unless they have a written document stating otherwise.
A disagreement among family members over Schiavo's wishes led to the current controversy over her care.
``The Schiavo case is he- said, she-said, who-said - and she's not able to talk,'' Wise said. ``I don't know who said what. And that's the issue we wanted to get to - have something in writing.''
Not so fast, King said. When asked Tuesday whether Wise's bill would get a hearing in the coming session, he abruptly answered, ``No.''
In the 1980s, King was the architect of Florida's right-to- die law, considered a national death-with-dignity model and touted by the Senate leader as one of his key accomplishments.
``I don't want anything on the floor in that Senate that is going to give platforms to people who want to roll back the hands of time for whatever reason,'' King said. ``As soon as you put something on the floor, as well-intended as it may be, anybody can amend it. Then all of a sudden I'm sitting there facing a bill or bills that can dismantle what I consider to be my legacy.''
Wise acknowledged that he crafted the bill with the help of Florida Right To Life and the Florida Catholic Conference.
As written, Wise's bill contains a glitch that could allow the end of treatment to someone providing ``express and informed consent.'' That could be interpreted as verbal direction, but Wise said that language was included in error and would be stricken.
Larry Spalding, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said there is a constitutional issue with requiring end-of-life wishes in writing.
Spalding offered the example of a physician tending to a patient in a vegetative state who has no written instructions. Even if all family members agreed withdrawal of treatment was what the patient wanted, the doctor is setting himself up for civil or criminal penalties if he abides, Spalding said.
The doctor ``would have to say, `I'm sorry, we're going to have to continue to provide treatment whether he would have wanted it or not,' '' Spalding said. ``If you're going to make [the law] so strong as to say, `No, not even if all the players agree,' ... I just can't see a court sustaining that.''
This story can be found at: http://news.tbo.com/news/MGAN946WQND.html
I am appalled that Sen. King puts his "legacy" ahead of the needs of FL citizens.
I have sent emails to both, and have revised the email to Sen. King so I can mail it to him in addition. I expect to receive a reply to my concerns, as I am a constituent.
THANK YOU, Sen. Wise, for your work on this -- thank you for taking Terri's situation seriously to act further on behalf of the disabled.
I'm not sure what can of worms you are refering to. If a person is unable to speak for themselves and hasn't given written permission to starve them to death, I don't think someone else should make that choice for them.
"No reason is as important as my legacy!"
The Legacy of Death!
As a Californian, I would suggest one word for James King...."RECALL!!!!!!!
I'm certain every human body that can no longer remain alive
without artificial support would welcome the thought of the
government deciding that the body must be kept somehow
"alive", for the sake if those that are so sympathetic to some
religious-bent purpose of keeping a non-alive body "alive".
Without a written "living will" the decision to be removed from
a system that's keeping a non-functioning body "alive" is up to
the spouse, the oldest child, or the next of kin.
That legislation is the same in nearly every state of the Union;
it is not isolated to Florida; it has functioned well in every
instance on the past, and it protects the wishes of the public
that are immediately concerned with their very private situation.
It is of not the concern to those outside the immediate family;
it is wrong -morally and legally- for those outside the immediate
family to interfere with the wishes of the patient and spouse.
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