In Bush's first written arguments submitted in the upcoming Supreme Court battle over the constitutionality of Terri's Law, attorney Ken Connor listed a number of issues he said ultimately should be decided by a jury.

None of those issues, including the importance of Schiavo's Roman Catholic faith in deciding whether she should die, were addressed by a circuit judge who this year declared Terri's Law to be an unconstitutional infringement of her right to decline medical treatment, Connor said.

The governor's new legal arguments also cite a declaration by Pope John Paul II this year after an international congress held at the Vatican titled ``Life Sustaining Treatments and Vegetative State: Scientific Advances and Ethical Dilemmas.''

In his March 20 proclamation, the pope said the term ``vegetative state'' is demeaning and that a person should never be denied food and water.

``I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act,'' Bush quotes the pontiff as stating.

Schiavo's husband, Michael, has been locked in a six-year battle with his in-laws over his quest for court permission to remove his wife's feeding tube.

His attorney, George Felos, termed Bush's legal brief an ``offense to the citizens'' of Florida.

``The brief is really shocking in its profound disrespect for the rights of Floridians to chart the course of their own lives,'' Felos said.

Terri Schiavo, 40, has been in what most doctors term a persistent vegetative state since her heart failed and her brain was damaged in February 1990.

Bob and Mary Schindler say their daughter is not in a vegetative state. She reacts to them during bedside visits and their doctors say she could improve with aggressive therapy, the Schindlers say.

After a nonjury trial in January 2000, Circuit Judge George Greer ruled testimony from Michael Schiavo and two of his relatives showed Terri Schiavo made statements prior to her illness indicating she would not want to be kept alive in her current condition.

After more than three years of appeals, Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed in October. It was reinserted on Bush's orders six days later, after the Legislature passed what quickly was dubbed ``Terri's Law.'' The controversial law allowed Bush to intervene in a case exactly like Schiavo's.

Michael Schiavo immediately sued Bush, saying the law is unconstitutional. In May, Circuit Judge Douglas Baird agreed, and Bush filed an appeal, setting the stage for an Aug. 31 hearing before the Florida Supreme Court.

Felos likened Bush's powers under Terri's Law to those of medieval kings. He said the pronouncements of the pope have no place in Florida law.

``It's preposterous to assume her wishes would change based upon arcane statements of theologians years afterward,'' Felos said.

If the Schindlers believe something has changed since the 2000 trial, they can petition the trial judge to amend his ruling, Felos said.

Terri Schiavo ``came from a devout Catholic family,'' Connor countered Tuesday. ``Terri's wishes should be construed in light of what the [church's] teachings are.''

Michael Schiavo is under pressure to marry another woman with whom he has fathered two children, and no jury would ever take his word that his wife does not want to be kept alive, Connor said.

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at (727) 799-7413.