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U.S. House acts to save Schiavo
House members pass a late-night measure that allows Terri Schiavo's parents to ask a federal court to review the case.
By ALISA ULFERTS, ANITA KUMAR and WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published March 17, 2005
With surprising speed, the U.S. House passed a bill late Wednesday night that could delay removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube and prolong a seven-year legal battle.
By a voice vote, the House approved a measure that would allow Schiavo's parents to ask a federal court to review the case and determine whether their daughter's rights were violated by a judge's decision to remove the tube.
"What's going on in Florida regarding Terri Schiavo is nothing short of inhumane," said James Sensenbrenner Jr., a Wisconsin Republican. "What Terri Schiavo and all disabled people deserve, in contested cases, is for justice to tilt toward life."
The last-minute, late-night vote angered some members, mostly Democrats, who said they were appalled House Republicans would consider a bill that had been introduced only hours earlier and was never scheduled to be heard. The chamber was largely empty for the 40-minute debate.
"This is the most outrageous thing I've ever seen," said Jim McDermott, a Democrat from Washington. "You ought to be ashamed of yourselves. You have no shame.
"It's a disgrace," he said glaring at his colleagues, before stomping back to his seat.
The vote came as the Friday deadline to remove Schiavo's feeding tube drew near, and politicians in Washington and Tallahassee scrambled to craft legislation to keep her alive.
Once a private family matter, Schiavo's fate is now expected to be publicly debated today again in Congress and both chambers of the Florida Legislature.
On Wednesday, a day after Schiavo's husband, Michael, said his wife's case had been turned into a political football, protesters began a vigil outside the Pinellas Park hospice where she lies unaware of the political and emotional tumult.
Schiavo, 41, has been hospitalized for 15 years after suffering from cardiac arrest that cut off oxygen to her brain, leaving her in what doctors say is a persistent vegetative state. Courts have repeatedly sided with Michael Schiavo, who says his wife would not want to be kept alive in such a condition.
Several major developments occurred Wednesday:
In Washington, the House passed a bill that would allow a federal review of her 2000 trial, which determined she would not want to live in her current condition. The Senate may consider that bill today or its own version, which moves the case to federal courts for another trial.
In Tallahassee, state House and Senate negotiators failed to reach an agreement on legislation to prevent Schiavo's feeding tube from being removed.
The 2nd District Court of Appeal refused to block removal of the feeding tube. "No one who considers the dismal history of countries in which courts and judges have abandoned the rule of law would ask us to abandon the rule of law even in this case," Chief Judge Chris Altenbernd wrote.
Those on both sides of this life-and-death struggle enter the final 24 hours before Friday's 1 p.m. deadline with increased uncertainty.
Congressional resolve tested
The House passed the bill after a debate Wednesday that mostly split along party lines. The Senate will debate Schiavo's case today.
The House bill would allow a federal review of cases involving people for whom a state judge had authorized the withholding of food or medical treatment. Some Democrats said the bill could affect tens of thousands of people, and fails to properly define who could contest a case.
"This is a family matter," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a Democrat from Weston. "There is no room for the federal government in this case."
Congressional leaders support fast-tracking a bill to delay the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. Some say they will not leave Friday for the two-week Easter recess until they do so.
"We cannot leave without solving it because she would not be alive when we return," said Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., who sponsored the bill.
The Senate bill would affect only Schiavo.
George Felos, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, declined to comment on any pending legislation until a specific proposal passes. But Felos has said any law that retroactively seeks to undo a court order would be improper.
"Whatever they pass will be unconstitutional," Felos said.
Ira Lupu, a constitutional law professor at George Washington University, said Congress can, and does, pass bills affecting a single person. But there are "several constitutional problems" if a bill detrimentally affects an individual.
Tallahassee seeks middle ground
Throughout the day Wednesday at the state Capitol, state senators and House members worked on a compromise bill.
But Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden, who is leading the effort in the Senate, said he's not sure he can pass a bill.
"Right now it's tight," Webster said. "There's the House version, my version and we're working on another version."
Senate President Tom Lee said he did not try to count votes because he doesn't know what bill the Senate will consider, if any.
The slower, tougher pace differs from the speed with which lawmakers passed a bill in October 2003, overturning a court order to remove Schiavo's feeding tube.
Sen. Ken Pruitt, R-Port St. Lucie, attributes the change to the extra time lawmakers have. In 2003, lawmakers were meeting in special session after Schiavo's feeding tube had been removed, and it was presumed time was running out.
Several senators said this year's proposal was far worse than what lawmakers approved in 2003.
"Last year we had a bill before us that was unconstitutional. This year we have a bill before us that is unconscionable," said Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua.
Some Senate Republicans say they haven't decided if they will support the bill, including Victor Crist of Tampa, Lee Constantine of Altamonte Springs, Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach and Rudy Garcia of Hialeah.
And at least two Republican senators, Nancy Argenziano of Dunnellon and J.D. Alexander of Lake Wales, said they will vote against the bill. They were among the six Republican senators who voted against the 2003 bill.
"I tell you what - I called my attorney and said "You're damn straight I'm getting a written directive. I don't want the Legislature deciding for me,' " Argenziano said.
While both chambers are scheduled to debate the issue today, they might not vote until Friday morning, hours before Schiavo's tube is to be removed.
Schindlers lose in appeals court
The attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents said he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court by today to delay removing Schiavo's feeding tube.
The announcement came as the 2nd District Court of Appeal in Lakeland rejected attempts by the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, to block a court order to remove the feeding tube so they can continue to fight in court.
The court also rejected an appeal that Schiavo's due process rights were violated.
The appeals court rejected an argument that Schiavo was denied due process at a trial in 2000. Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer ruled Schiavo would not want to live by artificial means.
"Not only has Mrs. Schiavo's case been given due process, but few, if any, similar cases have ever been afforded this heightened level of process," wrote Judge Chris Altenbernd.
The court also wrote that Michael Schiavo, as his wife's guardian, has no choice but to follow the order to remove the feeding tube.
In a separate decision Wednesday, the court also refused to grant an immediate stay requested by the Florida Department of Children and Families.
The agency said it had wanted the stay to appeal Greer's order refusing to let it to intervene in the Schiavo case.
[Last modified March 17, 2005, 01:59:50]
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