Parents' 11th-hour appeal to save Terri Schiavo
The parents of a brain-damaged woman tonight filed an 11th-hour appeal against a US judge’s decision to let her die.
Terri Schiavo’s parents immediately filed an emergency appeal with a three-judge court in Atlanta, Georgia, after a federal court in Florida denied their request to reinsert the feeding tube that was keeping her alive.
Judge James Whittemore ruled that Bob and Mary Schindler had not established a “substantial likelihood of success” at trial on the merits of their arguments.
The extraordinary courtroom showdown came after Congress waded into the family feud, passing emergency legislation which gave a federal judge the power to reverse a state court decision to remove the 41-year-old’s feeding tube.
When the plan failed, the White House admitted it “would have preferred a different ruling”.
“We hope (the parents) will be able to have relief, through the appeals process,” a spokesman said.
“We continue to stand on the side of defending life and we will see what comes of further proceedings.”
Terri Schiavo’s fight for life is the focus of a bitter family battle which has evolved into a political storm, attracting accusations of Republican lectioneering.
The Vatican has also joined the fray, claiming that the removal of her feeding tube amounted to capital punishment for someone who had committed no crimes.
In a front-page editorial, the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano criticised Judge Whittemore’s ruling, claiming he had condemned Mrs Schiavo to an “atrocious death”.
“She has no possibility of being ’restored’ to a ’normal’ life. Therefore Terri Schiavo must die,” it read.
“This is... the absurd and terrifying reason” for the judge’s decision.
But as her family, politicians and religious leaders battle it out in the courtroom and in the national media, Terri Schiavo is slowly starving to death.
Her feeding tube was removed on Friday, on the orders of a Florida state judge, prompting an outcry from conservatives who demanded government action. She could live up to two weeks before she dies of dehydration.
A series of hearings and appeals has ensued, with the case gathering pace as time runs out.
Congress was called back from its Easter recess for a rare Sunday session, and President George Bush dashed back from his holiday to sign into law, in the middle of the night, a Bill preventing her death.
Hours later Mrs Schiavo’s parents filed an emergency injunction asking a judge to reinsert the feeding tube. After a two-hour hearing on Monday, their request was denied this morning.
The Republican argument, based on the sanctity of life, took a knock when leaked documents appeared to suggest the party was exploiting the case for political gain.
Michael Schiavo claims the thinking part of his wife’s brain has simply gone, while her Catholic parents insist there are signs of life and that in the absence of a will her right to life must be respected.
Doctors declared Mrs Schiavo to be in a persistent vegetative state after her heart stopped briefly in 1990 because of a chemical imbalance.
Her husband claims she told him she never wanted to be kept alive artificially and has fought for years with her parents over whether the feeding tube should be removed.
She has already gone without nourishment twice on court orders. The tube was removed on court orders for two days in 2001 before a different judge ordered feeding to resume.
Two years later it was removed again but reinserted six days later when Florida Governor Jeb Bush pushed through Terri’s Law. It was later ruled that Governor Bush had acted unconstitutionally.
