| If I may butt my nose in here and add to this: If you intend to contact the legislature or senate, you may wish to consider reminding them that anything that happens to Terri Schiavo will surely happen to Florida's elderly and disabled citizens. I think one of the major problems here is that lawmakers are not seeing past this particular case nor are they seeing the absolute chaos that will come down if they allow the state to order people dead. There are two House Bills currently scheduled for consideration. They are: House Bill 701 - Withholding or Withdrawal of Nutrition or Hydration from Incompetent Persons http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/bills_detail.aspx?Id=16262&iSessionSelectedIndex=0&sBillSubjectText=&sBillNumberText=701&iSponsorSelectedIndex=0&iBillListSelectedIndex=0&sStatueAmendedText=&iBillTypeSelectedIndex=0&iReferredToSelectedIndex=0&iChamberSelectedIndex=0&iBillSearchListPageIndex=0 Both of these will surely impact incapacitated Floridians. The first is one that could work to protect vulnerable people from starvation and dehydration deaths. I've found the provision on PVS uncomfortable but, as has been stated on this thread, please read it for yourself and don't take my opinion as fact. The second has to do with evidence code. This bill will effectively eliminate the protections incapacitated people have against self-serving hearsay testimony. If the lawmakers think the Schiavo case is a mess, this law would turn similar cases into disasters. There is a twin in the senate that is currently in civil justice committee. I truly think our lawmakers need to hear from as many people as possible on this and as soon as humanly possible. The Florida House web site is on http://www.myfloridahouse.com and contact details for all representatives are listed there. The Florida Senate web site is on http://www.flsenate.gov with the same details. Floridians, we need you now. If anyone can possibly ping other Florida Freeps to the information, it would be greatly appreciated. |
HB 0701
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/loadDoc.aspx?FileName=_h0701__.doc&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0701&Session=2005
HB 0523
http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/loadDoc.aspx?FileName=_h0523__.doc&DocumentType=Bill&BillNumber=0523&Session=2005
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