Orlando, FL - Florida lawmakers are close to passing bills which would spare the life of Terri Schiavo. Terri is a 41-year-old woman who, though brain-damaged, is responsive and requires only a feeding tube for nourishment. The removal of the feeding tube would cause her to starve and dehydrate.

On the state level, elected representatives in Florida are being called upon to support H.B. 701 and S.B. 804, which are scheduled for hearings in their final committees today and may potentially come up for a vote on the floors of both chambers by Thursday. Yesterday, the House and Senate reached a deal on the proposed bill. The legislation would prohibit a guardian from allowing a person in a “persistent vegetative state” to die by withholding food and water, unless that person had written instructions asking not to be kept alive with artificial feedings. In the absence of written instructions, a guardian could withhold food and water, but only if there was “clear and convincing evidence” that the incapacitated person clearly expressed his or her wishes. Rep. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, the House Judiciary Committee Chairman, said that “clear and convincing” is a tough standard. A casual conversation “sitting around the dinner table, that’s not going to rise to the level that will permit the denial of sustenance and hydration,” Simmons said, as reported in The Orlando Sentinel.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, stated: “I am pleased that the Florida legislature is acting with deliberate speed. Terry Schiavo is only a few days away from being starved and dehydrated. Death by dehydration and starvation is slow, painful, and inhumane. No parent should be forced to stand by helplessly and watch their child die of starvation”

The number for the Florida legislature is (800) 342-1827 and for Gov. Jeb Bush is (850) 488-4441.