Legislature Devises New Proposal to Intervene for Terri Schiavo
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/florida/MGBKUTZCB6E.html
By Samantha Gross Associated Press Writer
Published: Mar 14, 2005
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Lawmakers proposed a measure Monday that would block doctors from denying food or water to someone in a persistent vegetative state with the intention of causing death, setting the stage to prevent the removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube on Friday.
The House Judiciary Committee voted 8-3 approving the new measure, which would make exceptions for living wills and specific verbal instructions. The bills, if put on an expedited path, could come up for final votes in the House and Senate as early as Thursday.
Schiavo, 41, is severely brain damaged and has been at the center of a long and bitter court battle between her parents and her husband, who wants to remove her feeding tube so she can die. A judge has cleared the way for the procedure at 1 p.m. Friday.
Also on Monday, the Department of Children & Families appealed a judge's denial of its request for a stay on the removal of the tube for the next 60 days while it investigates allegations that Schiavo was mistreated by her husband.
Under the measure, family members would no longer be able to make decisions for patients who left no specific instructions - unless they were empowered to do so by a written directive.
An earlier version of the bill could have applied to all incapacitated people, not just those in a persistent vegetative state.
The change was intended to allay concerns that the proposed law (HB 701) could force people who thought they had denied such measures to undergo surgery to insert a feeding tube, said Rep. Dennis Baxley, R-Ocala, who sponsored the bill.
"We're not trying to do something with all terminal people," he said. "We're not trying to bother anybody who's made their own choices. We're simply trying to assert that in this society, we don't starve people to death."
But civil liberties advocates and some medical leaders still objected.
"They're proposing to violate the rights of a smaller category of people - I don't think we should be exultant over that," said Howard Simon, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.
The Florida Bioethics Network - a group of doctors, nurses, social workers and medical college professors - said the bill would be a setback to more than a quarter-century of advances in end-of-life decision making for Floridians. Florida is considered to have some of the nation's more advanced laws giving people the power to control their lives until the end.
"This is a train wreck of a bill," said Kenneth W. Goodman, co-director of the Florida Bioethics Network and head of the University of Miami Bioethics Program. "While they are trying to stick it to Michael Schiavo ... no one asks people who are real guardians in Florida what they thought of it. This bill will derail guardianship law in Florida."
Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, warned that the measure could prevent parents from making decisions for their children.
"We should not craft a piece of legislation that ultimately will take the people who know best and are most full of love for the patient, and take them out of the process of making a decision," he said.
Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, also added an identical amendment to a companion bill (SB 804).
Gov. Jeb Bush's general counsel assisted in negotiating the language of the bill, said House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, though a Bush spokesman said it was too early to say whether he would sign it into law.
Meanwhile, Christian youth activists delivered dying roses to lawmakers along with notes reading "do not feed or water," as a reminder of the impending deadline for legislative action.
Members of the group, Bound 4 Life, said they would go on a hunger strike if Schiavo's feeding tube is removed.
Court-appointed doctors say the brain-damaged woman is in a persistent vegetative state and cannot regain consciousness. Bob and Mary Schindler, who believe their daughter is aware and can recover, have fought her husband in court for nearly seven years. Michael Schiavo contends his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.
This is the second time the Legislature has considered measures aimed specifically at keeping Schiavo alive. In 2003, lawmakers passed a bill that allowed Gov. Jeb Bush to order doctors to restore Schiavo's feeding. That law was then thrown out by the Florida Supreme Court.
The House and Senate bills were each to be considered in final committees Tuesday.
Goodman said the legislation would create barriers for people who want to control the end of their lives.
It also "misjudges" the medical use of artificial nutrition and hydration tubes, which are intended to be used as a "bridge" when someone suffers a debilitating medical problem until they can get better, he said. Goodman said those devices are not intended to be permanent.
People in a persistent vegetative state cannot feel pain, the bioethicists argue, and deaths from the removal of water and food are considered painless and humane.
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Florida Legislature: http://www.leg.state.fl.us/
AP-ES-03-14-05 1919EST
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, says he can't believe the developments taking place in Tallahassee
"It's amazing to see Republican lawmakers tripping over themselves to appear to pander to the right-to-life and anti-abortion groups," said Felos. "I would hope that there are some legislators there who have some integrity and longer vision and realize that violating the constitutional rights of one person means that all of our constitutional rights are weakened."
http://www.baynews9.com/content/36/2005/3/14/74520.html
That's not true. There are chidlren who live with feeding tubes since they were born. Adults can spend the rest of their PRODUCTIVE lives, even decades with feeding tubes.