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Schiavo's Parents Await Another Decision

Parents Await Another Decision

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. -- After a federal appeals court panel rebuffed them yet again, Terri Schiavo's parents made another desperate attempt to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive, telling a judge that she tried to say "I want to live" just minutes before her feeding tube was removed a week ago.

Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer was expected to announce a decision by noon Saturday on the motion by Bob and Mary Schindler. The appeal is seen as a long shot because Greer was the judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed March 18.

Attorneys for Michael Schiavo, Terri's husband, argued the Schindlers had abandoned all pretense of the law and were simply making "a pure emotional appeal." Michael Schiavo says his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially.

State and federal courts have repeatedly ruled against the Schindlers, who grew increasingly anguished as their daughter entered her second week without the tube that sustained her for 15 years.

Doctors have said the 41-year-old woman would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed. By Friday, dehydration was taking its toll. Terri Schiavo's tongue and eyes were bleeding and her skin was flaking off, said Barbara Weller, the Schindlers' attorney.

"Terri is weakening. She's down to her last hours. Something has to be done and has to be done quick," said Bob Schindler, who visited his daughter Friday morning. After a later visit, he added: "I told her that we're still fighting for her, and she shouldn't give up because we're not. But I think the people who are anxious to see her die are getting their wish."

The Schindlers filed a motion Friday asking Greer to order the reinsertion of the tube, claiming their daughter tried to say "I want to live" when it was removed. The motion said Terri Schiavo was asked to repeat that phrase and responded: "AHHHHH" and "WAAAAAAA."

Doctors who have examined her for the court case have said her previous utterances were involuntary moans consistent with someone in a vegetative state.

Schindler attorney David Gibbs III urged Greer to act quickly because he expected "Terri to step into eternity this Easter weekend." George Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, said the belief Terri Schiavo can speak was "crossing the line" into an abuse of the legal system.

Earlier Friday, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta denied another appeal by the Schindlers, saying it had already ruled on most of the issues and other issues raised did not apply to the case.

It marked the third time in four days the court had denied an emergency request made by Schiavo's parents. Attorneys for the Schindlers said they planned to appeal, but would wait until Saturday morning.

Bob Schindler also pleaded with Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene by taking temporary custody of their daughter while court challenges are argued.

"With the stroke of his pen, he could stop this," Bob Schindler said. "He's put Terri through a week of hell and my family though a week of hell. I implore him to put a stop to this. He has to stop it. This is judicial homicide."

Bush, who has been a staunch supporter of the Schindlers, said Thursday he is not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers and that he was hoping the courts would provide relief.

"We are continuing to do whatever we can, and we are pursuing all the options available to us in this case," Bush spokesman Jacob DiPietre said.

Terri 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.

She went without food and water in 2003 when the feeding tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when Bush and the Legislature pushed through a law that was later thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

Outside the hospice, eight more people — including a 10-year old boy and 13-year-old twin girls — were arrested Friday for trying to bring her water.

"I don't want her to die," Joshua Heldreth, 10, from North Carolina, said before his arrest. "I'm not afraid because God is with me."

A handful of protesters remained outside Terri Schiavo's hospice overnight.

"I'm so discouraged, I feel so helpless," said Christine Ambrusko, student from Atlanta. "I don't know how in our civilized country we can allow a person to be starved to death with so many questions unanswered."

Also Friday, the FBI said a man was arrested in Fairview, N.C., on charges of sending an e-mail threat, allegedly for offering a $250,000 bounty for Michael Schiavo's death and $50,000 for that of a judge in the case. The FBI did not identify the judge.

Richard Alan Meywes allegedly sent the e-mail Tuesday to two Tampa-area news organizations and the host of a national conservative talk show, the FBI said.

Meywes was taken into custody at his home and charged with murder for hire and with the transmission of interstate threatening communications, the FBI said.

If convicted, Meywes could face up to 15 years in prison and fines up to $500,000, federal prosecutors said.


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Posted by Editor at March 26, 2005 07:30 AM