Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies
WILLIAM R. LEVESQUEA judge's ruling keeps Terri Schiavo's feeding tube in place while additional legal appeals continue to be heard.
CLEARWATER - A judge Friday refused to hold a hearing to determine if recent statements by the pope would lead Catholic Terri Schiavo to reject the removal of the feeding tube that has kept her alive for more than 14 years.
But Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge George Greer issued an order preventing Schiavo's husband from removing the feeding tube until at least Dec. 6 so lawyers can appeal his decision.
Meantime, Gov. Jeb Bush's lawyers said in a court filing Friday that they plan to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court a recent Florida ruling striking down Terri's Law as unconstitutional.
The law, hastily passed by lawmakers a year ago, allowed Bush to order doctors to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube six days after it was removed. The Florida Supreme Court ruled the law unconstitutional last month and this week refused a request to reconsider.
Questions of Schiavo's faith have dominated recent efforts to keep her alive, a battle led by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. Those efforts are based on a March statement by Pope John Paul II that people in vegetative states have the right to nutrition and health care.
Lawyers said that Schiavo, as a devout Catholic, would never want to have anything done to run counter to the pope's words and would want to live.
But Greer rejected a hearing to consider the matter, noting an appeals court previously found that Schiavo did not regularly attend Mass or have a religious adviser who could help the court determine her religious attitude about life support.
"Nothing has changed," Greer wrote in the ruling. "There is nothing new presented regarding Terri Schiavo's religious attitude and there is still no religious adviser to assist this or any other court in weighing her desire to comply with this or any other papal pronouncement."
Despite the dwindling legal options, the lead attorney for the Schindlers said he is still confident they may yet prevail in the courts. "I'm optimistic that once our legal options are fully explored, there will be an avenue for the courts to recognize a way to protect Terri Schiavo's life," said attorney David Gibbs III.
Attorney George Felos, who represents Schiavo's husband, Michael Schiavo, said he was disappointed by the decision to prevent the tube's removal until December. He said the Schindlers and Bush are using the courts to delay removing the feeding tube. Without Greer's order, Felos said, Michael Schiavo would be free to seek the tube's immediate removal. Michael Schiavo said his wife made statements before her 1990 collapse indicating she would not want to live as she does now.
"She has been waiting for her constitutional rights to be afforded to her for 41/2 years," Felos said. "It's hard to see any constructive purpose to delay this another seven weeks. This case should be about carrying out her wishes."
Bush, appearing at a political event in South Pasadena, said he hasn't given up hope for Schiavo and still feels strongly about protecting her life.
"I'm totally against frivolous lawsuits," Bush said. "I don't want to use the courts for this purpose unless we have legitimate reasons."
Terri Schiavo's family released a statement saying they were thankful for Bush's continued efforts to "save their daughter Terri's life."
"The family's faith remains strong and they are hopeful that their daughter's life will ultimately be spared," a statement from the Schindlers said. "They covet the prayers of others who are concerned about Terri as they continue to pursue their legal options."
Schiavo collapsed in 1990 from a suspected chemical imbalance that some doctors think may have been related to bulimia.
She left no living will, leaving the courts to determine whether she would want to be kept alive. Her husband says her condition is irreversible. Schiavo's parents disagree, saying she could be helped by therapy. Schiavo, 40, lives at a Clearwater nursing home.
Her feeding tube has been removed twice, only to be reinserted after legal developments in a case that has attracted international attention.