The extraordinary response by the federal government to try to save the life of Terri Schiavo is a testament
to the political passion and influence of social conservatives.
Once the feeding tube was removed from Schiavo on Friday, outraged conservatives demanded action from a
government they helped put in power.
The response was immediate. In a matter of hours, Republicans brushed aside questions about intruding in
traditionally local affairs, settled a squabble between the House and Senate, and summoned members back to Washington from
their Easter recess for a remarkable Palm Sunday session to begin enacting legislation unheard of a week before.
President Bush returned from his Texas ranch and signed the bill early today.
Keith Appell, a veteran political strategist, worked with social-conservative groups on the Schiavo case.
"They've played a major role," he said. "There's been an enormous amount of pressure brought to bear on
conservative members of Congress to get involved."
Social conservatives - represented by such groups as Focus on the Family and the Christian Coalition - are
a major part of the coalition that has twice elected President Bush and kept Republicans in control of Congress. Yet until
now, they have not had as much influence in the Republican-controlled government as they would like.
They could not get approval of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. And they have not been able
to overturn the 1973 Supreme Court decision establishing nationwide standards for legal abortions.
Still, Bush and many Republican members of Congress are eager to please them. Primarily, they tend to agree
with social conservatives on cultural and moral issues. Politically, they are also mindful that Christian and social conservatives
are an organized voting bloc.
Conservative Peggy Noonan warned Republicans controlling the federal government that they risked a significant
backlash if they failed to take action to save Schiavo.
"The Republican Party controls the Senate, the House, and the White House. The Republicans are in charge.
They have the power. If they can't save this woman's life, they will face a reckoning from a sizable portion of their own
base. And they will of course deserve it," she wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
At the same time, an unsigned memo circulating among Senate Republicans noted the potential political fallout
from the Schiavo case.
"This is an important moral issue, and the pro-life base will be excited," said the memo, leaked to several
news organizations.
The memo said the case could be particularly effective in Florida, where Schiavo lives and where the state's
Democratic senator, Bill Nelson, is up for reelection next year.
"This is a great political issue because Sen. Nelson of Florida has already refused to become a cosponsor,
and this is a tough issue for Democrats," the memo said.
Others worked to keep the pressure on the Republicans in charge. Groups like the Concerned Women for America
and Focus on the Family urged members to flood Congress with calls and e-mail.
Radio talk show host Sean Hannity got House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr.
(R., Wis.) to explain why he couldn't reach agreement with Senate Republicans and then pressured Sensenbrenner to negotiate
on the air with Sen. Rick Santorum (R., Pa.).
By yesterday, there were disputes over the wisdom of planned legislation.
"The most disturbing feature about the Terri Schiavo case is the intrusion of political forces into the
process of family decision-making at the most vulnerable of times in the life of a family and person," said Richard Payne,
director of the Institute on Care at the End of Life at Duke University Divinity School in North Carolina.
Appell, the political strategist, noted that Congress decided to act only grudgingly.
"Being conservative, there is a natural reluctance to get involved in something that is local," he said.
"But they stayed out of this as long they could."
But there was no doubt that social conservatives had made themselves heard in Washington.
"You've had a rare moment where the traditional Christian conservatives and the social conservatives have
come together with people representing the disabled community," Sen. Mel Martinez (R., Fla.) said on Fox News Sunday. "Those
two forces have coalesced to do something good."
