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Terri Schiavo near death
26/03/2005 21:22 - (SA)
Pinellas Park, Florida - Terri Schiavo drew closer to death on Saturday as a judge rejected a last-ditch appeal by her parents to keep the brain-damaged woman alive against the wishes of her husband and the US courts.
Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer said Schiavo's parents had failed to offer a valid reason to change his decision and did not offer the new evidence in a timely fashion as required.
"Based on the respondents' request for relief, this court does not find that a colourable entitlement to relief has been established," Greer wrote.
A federal court late on Friday rejected yet another appeal to resume feeding and hydrating the severely brain-damaged 41-year-old woman, prompting an outcry from her parents and fresh pleas for Florida Governor Jeb Bush to intervene.
"She is fighting like hell to stay alive," Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, said. "She's still remarkably well under the circumstances."
Terri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed by court order on March 18 at the request of her husband, Michael Schiavo, who says she did not want to be kept alive artificially and should be allowed to die with dignity. The two sides have fought over her fate for at least seven years.
Her parents' last legal hope appeared to rest in Greer, the state judge who ordered the feeding tube removed eight days ago and presided over the original trial in which Michael Schiavo had sought to prove his wife wanted to die.
But Greer said the Schindlers' motion in which they claimed their daughter tried to articulate a desire to live could not be believed in light of the medical evidence already considered.
According to court documents, Schiavo attempted to say "I want to live" after an attorney prompted her to do so on March 18.
"In the presence of Suzanne Vitadamo (Schiavo's sister) and Suzanne's aunt, Mrs Schiavo attempted to verbalise that sentence. She managed to articulate the first two vowel sounds, first articulating 'AHHHHH' and then virtually screaming, 'WAAAAAAA.' She became very agitated but could not complete the vocalisation attempted."
Schiavo's parents have lost numerous court battles since then. In the latest, a three-judge panel of the US Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously against them.
"The plaintiffs have been unable to come forward in their second amended complaint with any new claims palpably alleging the denial of a right secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States," said Judge Charles Wilson, who had earlier sided with the Schindlers.
US media reported that the Schindlers have declined to pursue an appeal of that decision.
- AFP
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