Bill lets governor intervene in comatose woman's case

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The Florida House voted late Monday to give Gov. Jeb Bush the power to intervene in the case of a brain-damaged woman whose feeding tube was removed last week by her husband's order.

The House voted 68-23 in favor of the bill. The state Senate planned to take it up today.

The bill would give the state's governor 15 days to order a feeding tube to be reinserted in cases like Terri Schiavo's. The governor's power would be limited to cases where a person has left no living will, is in a persistent vegetative state, has had nutrition and hydration tubes removed and where a family member has challenged the removal.

Schiavo, 39, meets all the bill's requirements. She has been at the center of a decade-long court battle between her parents, who want her to survive, and her husband. Michael Schiavo contends he is carrying out his wife's wishes to not be kept alive artificially.

Bush said in a statement earlier Monday that lawmakers understand the "unique and tragic circumstances of Ms. Schiavo's case, and I am hopeful the legislature will pass a bill immediately."

Court-appointed doctors have described Schiavo as being in a vegetative state, caused when her heart stopped in 1990 from a suspected potassium imbalance.

The tube was removed Wednesday. As of Monday, doctors estimated Terri Schiavo would live little more than another week.

George Felos, attorney for Michael Schiavo, said he thinks the House legislation is unconstitutional.

"I don't believe that the Legislature has the authority to interfere," Felos said.