Florida Legislative Activity to Save Terri Schiavo in High Gear

With the court-ordered removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube set for Friday, legislative efforts are in high gear in Florida and in Washington, D.C. to find a way to keep Terri alive.  I dispatched Drew Ryun, our Director of Governmental Affairs, to Florida where he is meeting with members of the state legislature to urge them to take action on behalf of Terri.  We are approaching 30,000 names on our petition urging the state legislature and Florida Governor Jeb Bush to act.  Drew will be communicating those petition numbers to leadership.

I want you to know that we are working both in Florida and on Capitol Hill where federal legislation has been introduced in the Terri Schiavo matter.  While there will be legal appeals throughout this week, I am hopeful that the legislature in Florida will act and act quickly to help Terri.

During my radio broadcast today, Jeff Kottkamp of the Florida House of Representatives called into the show to tell me that he will be in a meeting with the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon on that very topic.  The legislation that Rep. Kottkamp is exploring deals with the requirement to continue feeding and hydration if there is no living will available.  That is the situation in Terri's case.  As Rep. Kottkamp told me there is a growing consensus in the House to finding a legislative solution.  One other area being explored in the Florida Senate deals with the guardianship issue and a piece of legislation being formulated in that area would bar Michael Schiavo from acting as Terri's guardian because he has started another family.

I want you to continue to pray for Terri and her family.  And, for the nearly 30,000 who have already signed on to our petition, thank you for your support.  I want to encourage those who have not yet done so, to sign today.  The petition is posted online and you can email it to your friends as well. 

I will be updating the trial notebook frequently this week bringing you the latest legal and legislative developments in Terri's case.