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American Morning

Life and Death Battle

Aired October 21, 2003 - 09:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get to Florida right now. Lawmakers in that state are taking steps to keep a comatose woman alive. Her feeding tube was removed last week by court order.
Late last night, the House of Representatives in Tallahassee OK'd a bill that would authorize the governor, Jeb Bush, to reverse that decision. The state Senate will take up the measure today.

John Zarrella tracking the story, as he has for weeks now, live in Miami.

John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

This has been a hugely emotional case right from the start. And it does appear now that the Florida legislature is on the verge of sending an emergency bill to Governor Jeb Bush, which he will more than likely sign that would allow emergency action.

Now, it all started 13 years ago. Terri Schiavo, a Tampa woman, she fell into what the courts have called a persistent vegetative state after heart failure. Since then, Terri Schiavo's parents have been fighting to keep her feeding tube in. Her husband has been arguing that Terri never would have wanted to live like this, and he has been fighting to have the feeding tube removed. The case has gone through the state courts, the federal courts, the appeals courts. The family has not won virtually any of those. Terri Schiavo's husband Michael has won those cases.

And last week, finally after all the appeals were exhausted, the tube was removed last Wednesday. The family appealed to governor Jeb Bush, and yesterday while the legislature began a special session to deal with economic issues, they took up what they're calling "Terri's Bill." The legislature, the House voted late last night to pass Terri's Bill, which gives the governor legal limited authority to order the feeding tube reinserted in the case where there is no living will, where the patient is in a persistent vegetative state. A challenge has been made by a family member not to remove the tube, and that there has been the withholding of hydration and nutrition, which are clearly all the elements of Terri Schiavo's case.

Now the bill sparked huge debate on the floor of the House last night. The House Democrats saying it's totally unconstitutional. Republicans saying it was the right thing to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. SANDRA MURMAN (R), TAMPA, FLA.: The Supreme Court refuses to hear this case. So who is going to look out for this girl's rights? We have to.

REP. CURTIS RICHARDSON (D), TALLAHASSEE, FLA.: Then let's throw the Constitution out the window, because it's not worth the paper that it's printed on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, apparently anticipating what would happen with his attorneys, issued a lengthy letter yesterday, in part, saying, quote, "Some people do not agree with the decision that the court made to remove Terri's feeding tube. I struggled to accept it myself. But I know in my heart that it is right and it is what Terri wants. There is no longer any realistic hope of Terri's recovery.

Michael Schiavo and his attorneys saying they're not saying anything this morning, will likely go to court to appeal what the legislature is about to do. And our understanding in all of this bill is that this bill is limited just to the Terri Schiavo case. It will go into effect when the governor signs it, and it will expire in 15 days. So it is, in fact, Terri's bill, and nothing more than that, until the legislature takes up the issue in more thorough detail when they meet in regular session in March of next year.

HEMMER: Getting way ahead of ourselves, John. If it's passed by both houses, if it's signed by the governor, this can be appealed immediately to the state supreme court, which essentially freezes it, right?

ZARRELLA: We assume so. We're assuming that's the angle and where it will go. It will ultimately probably go right to the state supreme court, because it would be, at least according to the Democrats, a violation of the state constitution and according to Terri -- according to Michael Schiavo's attorney, a violation of the state constitution. But it may have broader impacts than that. It could be a violation, in some respects, of the U.S. Constitution. We'll have to wait and see what tack the attorneys take.

HEMMER: Bottom line, the story continues. Thanks, John, John Zarrella in Miami.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired October 21, 2003 - 09:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: I want to get to Florida right now. Lawmakers in that state are taking steps to keep a comatose woman alive. Her feeding tube was removed last week by court order.
Late last night, the House of Representatives in Tallahassee OK'd a bill that would authorize the governor, Jeb Bush, to reverse that decision. The state Senate will take up the measure today.

John Zarrella tracking the story, as he has for weeks now, live in Miami.

John, good morning.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.

This has been a hugely emotional case right from the start. And it does appear now that the Florida legislature is on the verge of sending an emergency bill to Governor Jeb Bush, which he will more than likely sign that would allow emergency action.

Now, it all started 13 years ago. Terri Schiavo, a Tampa woman, she fell into what the courts have called a persistent vegetative state after heart failure. Since then, Terri Schiavo's parents have been fighting to keep her feeding tube in. Her husband has been arguing that Terri never would have wanted to live like this, and he has been fighting to have the feeding tube removed. The case has gone through the state courts, the federal courts, the appeals courts. The family has not won virtually any of those. Terri Schiavo's husband Michael has won those cases.

And last week, finally after all the appeals were exhausted, the tube was removed last Wednesday. The family appealed to governor Jeb Bush, and yesterday while the legislature began a special session to deal with economic issues, they took up what they're calling "Terri's Bill." The legislature, the House voted late last night to pass Terri's Bill, which gives the governor legal limited authority to order the feeding tube reinserted in the case where there is no living will, where the patient is in a persistent vegetative state. A challenge has been made by a family member not to remove the tube, and that there has been the withholding of hydration and nutrition, which are clearly all the elements of Terri Schiavo's case.

Now the bill sparked huge debate on the floor of the House last night. The House Democrats saying it's totally unconstitutional. Republicans saying it was the right thing to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. SANDRA MURMAN (R), TAMPA, FLA.: The Supreme Court refuses to hear this case. So who is going to look out for this girl's rights? We have to.

REP. CURTIS RICHARDSON (D), TALLAHASSEE, FLA.: Then let's throw the Constitution out the window, because it's not worth the paper that it's printed on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, apparently anticipating what would happen with his attorneys, issued a lengthy letter yesterday, in part, saying, quote, "Some people do not agree with the decision that the court made to remove Terri's feeding tube. I struggled to accept it myself. But I know in my heart that it is right and it is what Terri wants. There is no longer any realistic hope of Terri's recovery.

Michael Schiavo and his attorneys saying they're not saying anything this morning, will likely go to court to appeal what the legislature is about to do. And our understanding in all of this bill is that this bill is limited just to the Terri Schiavo case. It will go into effect when the governor signs it, and it will expire in 15 days. So it is, in fact, Terri's bill, and nothing more than that, until the legislature takes up the issue in more thorough detail when they meet in regular session in March of next year.

HEMMER: Getting way ahead of ourselves, John. If it's passed by both houses, if it's signed by the governor, this can be appealed immediately to the state supreme court, which essentially freezes it, right?

ZARRELLA: We assume so. We're assuming that's the angle and where it will go. It will ultimately probably go right to the state supreme court, because it would be, at least according to the Democrats, a violation of the state constitution and according to Terri -- according to Michael Schiavo's attorney, a violation of the state constitution. But it may have broader impacts than that. It could be a violation, in some respects, of the U.S. Constitution. We'll have to wait and see what tack the attorneys take.

HEMMER: Bottom line, the story continues. Thanks, John, John Zarrella in Miami.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com