The following statement was issued by Dr. D. James Kennedy:

As Governor, Jeb Bush is the only legal authority who can save the life of Terri Schiavo. He must act and he must act immediately on her behalf. He must disregard the order of Judge Greer. He has both the authority and the duty to do so under the state constitution.

The Florida constitution states in Article I, Section 2, that “[a]ll natural persons, female and male alike, are equal before the law, and have inalienable rights, among which are the right to enjoy and defend life....” According to the Constitution, “no person shall be deprived of any right [including the right to enjoy life] because of ... physical disability.”

As governor, Jeb Bush has the “supreme executive power,” and the constitutional duty, stated in Article IV, Section 1, to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” The governor, who is sworn to uphold the constitution, is obligated to safeguard this constitutional guarantee of the “inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life,” regardless of physical disability.

The Governor may not disregard that obligation even if a member of the judiciary has ordered otherwise. He is not bound by a court order that is at odds with a constitutional guarantee.

Thomas Jefferson said that “[T]o consider the judges as the ultimate arbiters of all constitutional questions [is] a very dangerous doctrine indeed, and one which would place us under the despotism of an oligarchy....”

Governor Bush has tried patiently to work with the courts and the legislature but to no avail. Now, at the very last moment, he has a constitutional duty to protect Terri Schiavo’s “inalienable right ... to enjoy and defend life.” Jeb Bush must choose between the clear mandate of Florida’s constitution and a judiciary which, in this case, has acted in defiance of that state supreme law.