Newswire

Federal Court Denies Schiavo Request

Judge Rules Against Parents

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- In what may have been the last major legal route in an effort to save Terri Schiavo's life, a federal court on Friday morning denied the severely brain-damaged woman's parents' request to have her feeding tube reeinserted.

For a second time, U.S. District Judge James Whittemore ruled against the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who had asked him to grant their emergency request to restore her feeding tube while he considers a lawsuit they filed.

The tube was removed a week ago on a state judge's order that agreed with her husband, who has said she has no hope for recovery and wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially. The Schindlers believe their daughter could improve and wouldn't want to die.

As of Friday morning, Terri Schiavo, 41, had been without food or water for almost seven days and was showing signs of dehydration -- flaky skin, dry tongue and lips, and sunken eyes, according to attorneys and friends of the Schindlers. Doctors have said she would probably die within a week or two of the tube being pulled.

On Thursday, both the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court denied attempts to save Schiavo. The Schindlers were also hoping that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush would somehow find a way to intervene — but Bush warned that he was running out of options.

"We're minute by minute right now. But it doesn't look like we have much left," Suzanne Vitadamo, Terri Schiavo's sister, told The Associated Press late Thursday.

Whittemore, who had previously rejected a similar request from Schiavo's parents, said many of the plaintiffs' motions were redundant after the hearing.

At the hearing's outset, Whittemore asked Schindler lawyer David Gibbs III (search) to focus on the legal issues because he was aware of Schiavo's declining health. Gibbs argued that as she lay dying, her rights to life and privacy were being violated.

The drama wasn't limited to the courtroom. Tampa police called in a bomb squad after a suspicious black backpack was found on the north side of the federal court building. The hearing was not interrupted, and the package was safely detonated by police.

Thursday evening, a man was arrested after he went to a gun store in Seminole and threatened its owner with a box cutter while demanding a weapon to "rescue" Schiavo, the Pinellas County sheriff's office said.

Meanwhile, family members worried that Schiavo was becoming more and more malnourished as the legal battle played itself out.

"It's very frustrating. Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death," said her brother, Bobby Schindler. He said seeing his sister was like looking at "pictures of prisoners in concentration camps."

Brian Schiavo, brother of Terri Schiavo's husband Michael Schiavo, strongly disagreed with that assessment, telling a news network that Terri Schiavo "does look a little withdrawn" but insisting she was not in pain. He added that starvation is simply "part of the death process."

A lawyer for Michael Schiavo said he hoped the woman's parents and the governor would finally give up their fight.

"We believe it's time for that to stop as we approach this Easter weekend and that Mrs. Schiavo be able to die in peace," attorney George Felos said.

Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She left no living will, but her husband argued that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that and contend she could get better.

The dispute has led to what may be the longest, most heavily litigated right-to-die case in U.S. history.


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Posted by Editor at March 25, 2005 08:01 AM