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« on: March 23, 2005, 01:27:10 AM » |
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Options in Schiavo case dwindling
By Larry Copeland and Laura Parker, USA TODAY
The parents of Terri Schiavo begged a federal appeals court in Atlanta Tuesday to restore a feeding tube to their brain-damaged daughter before she dies.
By Ric Feld, AP
It was the latest step in a wrenching public campaign that has already prompted intervention by Congress and President Bush.
Lawyers for Bob and Mary Schindler appealed to a three-judge panel on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals after a federal judge in Tampa denied their request. A tearful Mary Schindler urged Florida lawmakers to pass a law requiring that Schiavo be fed and given liquids.
"Please, senators, for the love of God, I'm begging you, don't let my daughter die of thirst," she said outside the hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla., where Schiavo is a patient.
The feeding tube was removed from Schiavo, 41, on Friday. She could die within days.
The appeals court didn't indicate when it might rule, but George Felos, the attorney for Terri's husband, Michael Schiavo, told the Associated Press that he expected a decision before daybreak Wednesday.
The case has become a frenzied race against the clock, with lawyers rushing from one court to the next, while politicians in Washington and Tallahassee search for another legislative solution that would keep Schiavo alive. (Graphic: Timeline)
In a lawsuit filed Monday, the Schindlers said their daughter's rights had been violated by state courts. U.S. District Judge James Whittemore in Tampa ruled that her parents failed to establish that their claim could succeed if it went to trial.
Whittemore's ruling noted that "it is apparent that Theresa Schiavo will die unless temporary injunctive relief is granted." But the judge also concluded that a seven-year legal battle in state court did not violate her rights.
Florida courts have ruled repeatedly that Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state. She was stricken in 1990, when her heart stopped briefly and her brain was deprived of oxygen. Michael Schiavo wants to allow his wife to die because he says she did not want to be kept alive by measures such as a feeding tube. The Schindlers say they think she can recover.
In a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll taken Tuesday, 52% agreed with the judge's decision that left the feeding tube unattached, and 39% said Schiavo should be hooked up again. (Related: Poll results)
Whittemore was assigned the case in Tampa after Congress hastily passed a law Monday allowing the Schindlers to move their claim into federal court. Bush signed the bill.
The judge suggested the new law may be unconstitutional but set that issue aside to consider the emergency request to restore the feeding tube.
The Schindlers alleged that Florida courts violated their daughter's rights in five areas, including her religious liberties.
The judge rejected each of the claims, saying they are "without merit" and that the case has been "exhaustively litigated. Few if any similar cases have ever been afforded this heightened level of process."
The judge concluded: "Notwithstanding Congress' expressed interest in the welfare of Teresa Schiavo, this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it."
Contributing: Wire reports
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