By SAMANTHA GROSS / The Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE -- State House members passionately debated Thursday whether they should keep Terri Schiavo alive just a day before the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube could be removed.
Republicans said it would be cruel to starve the woman to death and Democrats argued that the government shouldn’t be getting involved in a family decision.
The bill (HB 701) they considered would block the withholding of food and water from patients in a persistent vegetative state who didn’t leave specific instructions refusing the artificial measure.
“This provides a safety net where the government stands up for the vulnerable who don’t otherwise have a voice,” said Rep. Kevin Ambler, R-Tampa.
Even if the bill passed, there were questions whether the Senate would go along with the language. A Senate bill (SB 804) could also prevent Schiavo’s death, but would only apply to cases where families disagreed on the patient’s wishes. The House was expected to pass its bill Thursday, giving the Senate a day to agree with it or send back their version.
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. The law was later declared unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.
“We have a responsibility to act, to deal with this issue,” Bush said. “It breaks my heart we’re in a situation where it’s possible this woman could starve to death.”
Schiavo, 41, 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.
Rep. Dan Gelber argued that the bill could prevent family members from carrying out their loved ones’ orally expressed wishes.
“We are invading that family decision,” said Gelber, D-Miami Beach. “This isn’t about doing something for someone else but about recognizing what people want for themselves.”
Rep. David Simmons said that people in a persistent vegetative state deserve protection.
“We are dealing with people who are healthy other than the fact that they’re limited by a mental disability,” said Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs. “We’re talking about starving a person to death.”
Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped temporarily, and court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state and will never regain consciousness. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, says she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disagree that was her wish and say she could improve with proper treatment. They believe she interacts with them, laughs and tries to speak.
Florida Circuit Judge George Greer has granted Michael Schiavo permission to remove the feeding tube, a ruling a state appellate court upheld Wednesday. Without the feeding tube, which the state court allowed to be removed as early as Friday, Terri Schiavo would likely die in one to two weeks.
The U.S. House of Representatives weighed in on the case late Wednesday, passing legislation that would delay removal of the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube by moving such a 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.
On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged his chamber to save Schiavo.
“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.
Also, Schiavo’s parents filed an emergency motion at the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the removal of her feeding tube so lower courts can consider whether their daughter’s religious freedom and due process rights have been violated.