Jeb Secret Mover Behind Schiavo Bill

If the federal legislation saves Terri Schiavo, Jeb Bush will be the unsung hero of the effort.

The Miami Herald reported Sunday that with "less than 24 hours before Terri Schiavo had her feeding tube removed, Gov. Jeb Bush knew the effort to keep her alive was slipping away."

So the Florida governor stepped up to the plate.

The paper said Jeb "called Florida's newest U.S. senator, Mel Martinez, with an urgent plea."

"I'm not sure we can get it done here in Florida," Martinez quoted Bush as saying just after a new Schiavo measure stalled in the Florida Legislature. "Do whatever you can federally."

The paper said the congressional effort to save Schiavo was a "testament to the influence of the governor and religious conservatives, and will be remembered as one of the most extraordinary moves in the halls of U.S. Congress ever seen on behalf of a single person who, until recently, was little-known to many in the country."


The effort by the president's younger brother follows an attempt by his office and the state Legislature in 2003 to pass and enforce a measure ordering Terri's feeding tube, which had been removed at the time, to be reinserted.


The Florida Supreme Court eventually ruled that lawmakers and the governor had overstepped their bounds and found "Terri's Law" null and void.

So this time, with diminishing hope that state officials can effect the reinsertion of her tube before she starves to death, Bush is looking to Washington for help.

The original plan was simple: Top congressional Republicans "hit upon the idea to stall the court-ordered removal of her feeding tube by issuing congressional subpoenas to Schiavo herself, her husband and some of her doctors and caretakers," the paper reported.

When that didn't work, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee, along with House Speaker Dennis Hastert, "vowed to work through the weekend to prolong Schiavo's life," the Herald added.

The full-court press on behalf of Terri is getting the attention of long-time activists and Congress watchers.

Jayd Henricks, lobbyist for the Family Research Council - one group seeking to preserve Terri's life by challenging the court ruling ordering her tube removed - told the paper, "I've never seen anything like this in Congress over an individual case."


Jeb: Court Order of Death Is Wrong

"We know Terri Schiavo has been severely impaired since 1990," Bush says in Monday's issue of the governor's weekly newsletter, "but she made no clear directive about receiving food and water."

"A court's order of death flies in the face of government's duty to protect the weak, disabled and vulnerable," Bush continued.

"I will continue to work with [Florida lawmakers] to try to protect Terri and all Floridians from euthanasia by omission. [Bush's wife] Columba and I will keep Terri and her family in our prayers this weekend," he added.