Schiavo judge cool to claims

TAMPA, Fla. – Armed with a new law rushed through Congress over the weekend, the attorney for Terri Schiavo’s parents pleaded with a judge Monday to order the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube reinserted. But the judge appeared cool to the argument.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore did not immediately make a ruling after the two-hour hearing, and he gave no indication on when he might act on the request.

The hearing came three days after the feeding tube was removed. Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without the tube.

The courtroom showdown, the latest in what has become a legal cliffhanger captivating the nation, followed an extraordinary political fight over the weekend that consumed both chambers of Congress and prompted the president to rush back to the White House.

Congress passed a law that allowed Schiavo’s parents to argue their case before a federal court, bringing the legal battle to Whittemore’s Tampa courtroom.

“We are rushed and we are somewhat desperate,” the parents’ attorney, David Gibbs III, told the judge. “Terri may die as I speak.” The attorney said that forcing Schiavo to die by starvation and dehydration would be “a mortal sin” under her Roman Catholic beliefs.

“It is a complete violation to her rights and to her religious liberty, to force her in a position of refusing nutrition,” Gibbs said.

But the judge told Gibbs that he was not completely sold on the argument. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to convince me that you have a substantial likelihood” of the parents’ lawsuit succeeding, said Whittemore, nominated by former President Clinton in 1999.

George Felos, representing husband Michael Schiavo, told Whittemore that the case has been aired thoroughly in state courts and that forcing the 41-year-old severely brain damaged woman to endure another reinsertion of the tube would violate her civil rights.

“Every possible issue has been raised and re-raised, litigated and re-litigated,” Felos said. “It’s the elongation of these proceedings that have violated Mrs. Schiavo’s due process rights.”

Felos praised Whittemore’s careful deliberation as political pressure mounts for the tube to be reinserted.

“Yes, life is sacred,” Felos said as he argued that restarting artificial feedings would be a violation of Schiavo’s rights. “So is liberty, particularly in this country.”

Terri Schiavo’s father, Bob Schindler, who had been upbeat about the prospects of his daughter remaining alive, grimly left the courthouse as family friends crowded near him for support.

Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed at 1:45 p.m. Friday, the third such time it has been disconnected. On both previous occasions, the tube was reinserted by court order.

Michael Schiavo contends he is carrying out his wife’s wishes not to be kept alive artificially. He said he was outraged that lawmakers and the president were intervening in the bitter right-to-die battle. He has fought for years with his wife’s parents over whether she should be permitted to die or be kept alive through the feeding tube.

“This is a sad day for Terri. But I’ll tell you what: It’s also is a sad day for everyone in this country because the United States government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters,” he told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday.

The family’s lawsuit alleges a series of rights violations, including that Terri Schiavo’s religious beliefs were being infringed upon, that the removal of the feeding tube violated her rights and that she was not provided an independent attorney to represent her interests.

President Bush applauded the dramatic legislative maneuver by Congress to get the case before a federal court.

“Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together last night to give Terri Schiavo’s parents another opportunity to save their daughter’s life,” Bush said at an event on Social Security in Arizona. “This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life.”

Outside the hospice where his daughter entered her fourth day without food or water, Bob Schindler told reporters, “I’m numb, I’m just totally numb. This whole thing, it’s hard to believe it.”

A shout of joy was heard from the crowd outside the hospice when news of the House bill’s passage came. About two dozen activists outside the hospice were subdued but hopeful after learning that Whittemore did not issue an immediate ruling. Some loudly heckled Felos as he spoke with media.

“This is a life or death matter right now as I speak to you,” said Nancy Kramer, 50.

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly because of a possible potassium imbalance brought on by an eating disorder. She can breathe on her own, but has relied on the feeding tube to keep her alive.

Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Her husband says she would not want to be kept alive in that condition, but her parents insist she could recover with treatment.