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Terri's parents lodge appeal
23/03/2005 08:15 - (SA)
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| Holly Fowler prays for Terri Schiavo under her umbrella in a steady rain in front of the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. (Ric Feld, AP) |
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Tampa, Florida - Warning that Terri Schiavo was "fading quickly" and might die at any moment, her parents begged a federal appeals court on Tuesday to order the severely brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted.
David Gibbs III, attorney for parents Bob and Mary Schindler, told the 11th United States Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta that the 41-year-old woman might die before they could get a chance to fully argue their case that her rights are being violated. The appeal came after a federal judge in Tampa rejected the parents' emergency request.
"Where, as here, death is imminent, it is hard to imagine more critical and exigent circumstances," Gibbs said in the appeal filed electronically with the court. "Terri is fading quickly and her parents reasonably fear that her death is imminent."
There was no immediate indication of when the appeals court might rule.
Growing weak
The feeding tube was disconnected on Friday. Doctors have said Terri Schiavo could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients. Her uncle, Mike Tammaro, said she appearing to be growing weak on Tuesday.
"Over the past, when I've been in to see Terri, she responds and turns when you talk to her. She's not doing that today," he said.
The Schindlers have been locked for years in a battle with Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.
Even before the parents' appeal was filed, Michael Schiavo urged the 11th Circuit not to grant an emergency request to restore nutrition.
"That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs Schiavo's personal liberty," said the filing by Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos. Felos also said he would go to the US Supreme Court if the tube were ordered reconnected.
Louise Cleary, a spokesperson at Woodside Hospice, said she could not discuss Terri Schiavo's condition for reasons of privacy.
Over the weekend, Republicans in Congress pushed through unprecedented emergency legislation aimed at prolonging Schiavo's life by allowing the case to be reviewed by federal courts.
However, early on Tuesday, US District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the parents' emergency request under that legislation to have the tube reconnected, saying they had not established that they would probably prevail at a trial on their claim that Terri Schiavo's religious and due process rights have been violated.
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. Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
- AP
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