I'm double-posting here so people will notice it's been updated.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/20/schiavo/index.html

I've been checking CNN several times a day ever since the big controversy Friday over the removel of the feeding tube. It's just been updated with the Republicans in Congress trying to pass another form of the "Terri's Law" bill passed by Jeb Bush in '03(that was later ruled unconstitutional) to force the issue to federal court. The Congress, even if they pass this bill, does not have the authority to mandate the reinsertion of the feeding tube, but if the bill is passed, then the federal court can order it as they investigate into the matter. The vote is scheduled for 12:01 AM on Monday(I assume EST, which is about 7 hours from now).

Democrats are furious, saying this undermines the Florida judicial system, which has already ruled on the matter several times over in the past few years(both in the lower courts and in the Florida court of appeals, while the Florida Supreme Court and the US Supreme Court have dismissed petitions by the parents - the former, presumably, due to lack of evidence, and the latter, again presumably, due to lack of jurisdiction).

"Florida courts for seven years have found by a standard of clear and convincing evidence, that it is Terri Schiavo's wishes that she not remain in a permanent vegetative state," said Rep. Robert Wexler, a Florida Democrat. "It is not the place of Congress in the 11th hour in the most abusive fashion to undermine the Florida judicial system."
A-bloody-men.

Rep. David Weldon, a Florida Republican, told CNN that there were "a number of factual issues here that I believe warrant federal review."
I like how he doesn't specifically mention any.

"Let's at least give Terri Schiavo's case the benefit of the doubt," he said.
This case has been to the courts several times over, and affirmed by the court of appeals twice over. Doesn't that cover any doubt?

"Please gentleman, don't use this bill as your own personal agenda," Mary Schindler said.
Sort of ironic, don't you think, that it's some of the Republicans using it as their own political soapbox?

Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, said, "We've got to safeguard other disabled people and the elderly."
How does this effect either the disabled or the elderly or anyone else not in a "persistent vegetative state?"

The bill would give jurisdiction in the Schiavo case to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which covers an area from the Georgia border on the northeast to south of Naples on the southwest coast. Tampa, Jacksonville and Orlando are within the district.
*sighs* I'm not an expert on consitutional matters, but I believe court jurisdiction is not for Congress to decide.

Subpoenas issued Friday by a House committee to the Schiavo family -- including Terri Schiavo and caretakers -- were an "abuse of power," a House Democratic leadership aide said Saturday.
*agrees*

Schiavo's feeding tube has been removed twice before, most recently in 2003. That year, the Florida Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a law that authorized Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to resume the woman's feedings six days after a court ordered they be stopped.
If Jeb Bush hadn't unconstitionally abused his power, this fiasco would be over by now.

Last week, both the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overrule the order to remove the feeding tube.
I don't think it was the first time, either.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/03/20/schiavo/index.html

Well, an interesting development. I know I'll be keeping an eye on it.