I know they will. Lord protect those who want to save Terri.
Florida effort to keep Terri Schiavo alive hits roadblock as one bill is defeated
Thursday, March 17, 2005
BY SAMANTHA GROSS ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Working on at least four fronts, lawmakers and lawyers in Florida and in Washington raced to prevent the removal of a brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's feeding tube but ran into opposition Thursday as the hours slipped away.
Under court order, the feeding tube was set to be removed at 1 p.m. Friday, in what could be the final act in the long-running right-to-die drama.
The Florida House passed a bill 78-37 to block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who did not leave specific instructions regarding their care. But hours later, the Senate defeated a somewhat different measure 21-16, raising doubts that lawmakers could reach a compromise in time.
As part of the last-minute flurry of activity, Congress was considering legislation to keep the feeding tube in place, Schiavo's parents appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the Florida judge who approved the withdrawal of food and water scheduled a hearing Thursday on a request from the state to keep the woman alive.
Doctors have said it could take a week or two for Schiavo to die once the tube that delivers water and nutrients is removed.
Republican Gov. Jeb Bush has strongly urged the Legislature to pass a bill that would save Schiavo, as it did in 2003. That law allowed Bush to order doctors to restore Schiavo's feeding tube six days after it had been removed. But that law was later declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.
The push, largely by Republicans, has drawn accusations that Bush and the GOP are pandering to the religious right. Some have also questioned whether the campaign runs counter to Republican principles of less government and more freedom.
"If that's your standard operating procedure, then how in the world can you justify putting state government on the back of the most personal decision a family would have to make?" asked University of South Florida government professor Darryl Paulson. "It's a political lightning rod - fundamentally the wrong position for the Republican Party."
State Republicans said lawmakers have a responsibility to act because Schiavo cannot act for herself. "Sanctity of life is a Republican principle, and we stand on the side of sanctity of life," party Chairwoman Carole Jean Jordan said.
Republican state Rep. Kevin Ambler said: "This provides a safety net where the government stands up for the vulnerable who don't otherwise have a voice."
Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and say she could get better.
Late Wednesday, the U.S. House passed legislation that would delay the removal of the feeding tube by moving the case to federal court. Federal judges have twice turned down efforts by the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to move the case out of Florida courts, citing a lack of jurisdiction.
But Senate Democrats blocked the bill Thursday, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., acknowledged that his own Republicans were not likely to agree to ultimately send the House legislation to President Bush for his signature.
Frist said he would later try to pass a separate Senate bill and get it to the House before it leaves for its Easter recess Friday.
"If we don't act or if somebody does not act, a living person who has a level of consciousness, who is self-breathing, will be starved to death here in the next two weeks," Frist said.
At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said the case raises "a lot of complex issues" and declined to comment on specific legislation. But he said Bush "stands on the side of defending life."
Also, Schiavo's parents filed an emergency motion at the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the removal of the feeding tube so lower courts could consider whether their daughter's religious freedom and other rights have been violated.