"This woman's being starved and dehydrated to death," he complained. "Eleven days - no food and no water. This is not right."

"She is not brain dead," noted the man regarded by many as the Democratic Party's conscience. "She is brain impaired. All her vital signs are working."

"And to cut off her food and water his heartless," he admonished.

Jackson spoke out as other top Democrats, like Sens. Hillary Clinton and John Kerry, continued to observe a two week-long self-imposed gag order on the Schiavo case.

He said he'd been asked to intervene in the case by Terri's family, and planned to travel to Florida today to keep vigil outside her hospice.

Editor's note: