Inside the politics of the Schiavo bill
From Steve Turnham
CNN Washington Bureau
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|  VIDEO |
 The battle lines over Terri Schiavo aren't as clear as they appear.
 A federal appeals panel won't order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.
 A defense attorney explains the federal appeal in the case.
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The law that moved Terri Schiavo's case into federal court was an impressive accomplishment for congressional Republicans, many of whom interrupted their recess and returned to the Capitol to take action on the measure.
President Bush signed the bill early Monday, capping five days of a Republican-led frenzy to stop doctors from removing the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube.
By Tuesday morning, a federal court in Florida had rejected a request to reinsert the feeding tube. Schiavo's parents later appealed to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, which upheld that ruling. (Full story)
"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life," President Bush said Monday.
Last Wednesday, the House got involved after a Florida appeals court refused to block the removal of the feeding tube. Florida Circuit Judge George Greer had granted Schiavo's husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, permission to remove his wife's feeding tube as early as Friday.
That evening, lawmakers passed by a voice vote a bill giving federal courts jurisdiction in the Schiavo case and those involving all people in similar conditions.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal from Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, which sought to block Greer's order. The Florida Supreme Court also ruled against an appeal that Florida's Department of Children and Families filed.
The Senate reacted by passing a bill that was narrowly tailored to Schiavo's case, but rejected the far broader House Republican measure.
The differences in the two bills prompted some bickering between the two chambers.
"House Republicans knew we had a moral obligation to act and we did just that last night," House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Majority Leader Tom DeLay said in a joint statement. "As Terri Schiavo lays helpless in Florida, one day away from the unthinkable and unforgivable, the Senate Democrats refused to join Republicans to act on her behalf," they said.
In response, Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid shot back, "If the House Republicans refuse to pass our bipartisan bill, they bear responsibility for the consequences."
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said he was proud of the Senate bill and called on the House to follow its lead.
"To knowingly and purposely starve Ms. Schiavo to death would be callous, cruel and immoral," Frist said. "I am hopeful that the House will consider and pass this legislation quickly."
Frist, worked closely with Reid, who was in Israel on a congressional trip, to secure unanimous consent for the Senate bill despite the serious reservations by several senior Democrats. In telephone conversations with Hastert and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, Frist explained that the Senate simply would not pass the House measure, senior Senate leadership sources said.
According to senior Senate aides, Hastert said the Senate would be to blame if the Schiavo bill collapsed. And according to one account, the speaker slammed down the phone.
Frist directed his staff to act calmly and level headed, and resist casting blame. But the frustration was obvious. "We just wanted to get the [expletive] [expletive] bill passed," said a senior Frist staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
As the Friday deadline approached, Republican leaders tried another approach to prevent doctors from removing Schiavo's feeding tube. A House panel issued subpoenas Friday for Schiavo, her husband and her doctors.
The document warned that "federal criminal law protects witnesses called before official congressional committee proceedings from anyone who may obstruct or impede a witness's attendance or testimony."
However, Judge Greer ruled that the lawmakers did not have standing in the case, and said that the tube could be removed "forthwith."
On Saturday, the House presented a bill that essentially mirrored the original Senate bill, with some new language designed to mollify the most conservative House Members.
Because the language had changed, Frist, Reid and Sens. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Rick Santorum, R-Pennsylvania, tried to secure the support of reluctant Democrats in a furious round of negotiations just off the Senate floor.
They did, but Senate action was delayed by an hour.
Then, with Schiavo's tube out and pressure mounting to act fast, House Republicans softened their rhetoric considerably. Instead of blaming Senate Democrats, Republicans began to praise them.
"Let me just take a moment to say I greatly appreciate the Democrats in the Senate for working with the leadership in the Senate and facilitating this quickly," DeLay said Sunday when it was clear that the modified Senate bill was the only option. "They understand how important every hour is to Terri Schiavo."
But when asked about the holdup, DeLay pointed clearly to the other side of Congress.
"This brinksmanship could have been avoided if the Senate had picked up our bill and passed it. They had it for 24 hours. And then when they did their bill without consulting with us as to what was in it, a bill that had pencil marks in it, took 'shall' and struck through it and wrote in by hand 'may,' I knew at that last minute, there was nothing we could do in the House," DeLay said.
Harkin, a strong supporter of the measure pointed in the other direction.
"I do not believe there is any need for this to be dragged out in the media yesterday, today, and now into the weekend," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, a strong supporter of the Schiavo bill. "This could have been completed Thursday night and the district court could have reviewed the case."
Once Bush's signature was on the legislation, attorneys for the Schindlers and the Justice Department rushed to federal court to file papers seeking the reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore in Tampa, Florida, decided not to grant a temporary restraining order allowing the tube's reinstatement.
The Schindlers have appealed the ruling, which was eventually upheld.
Doctors have said Schiavo could live for one to two weeks without the nourishment.
