Judge Nixes Delay In Coma Case

Florida Social Service Agency Loses Request For 60-Day Delay

(AP)  A judge ruled Thursday that Florida's social services agency cannot intervene to delay the removal of the feeding tube keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive.

The Department of Children & Families had asked for a 60-day delay in the removal of the tube, now set for March 18. The agency said it wanted time to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect against the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo.

But Circuit Judge George W. Greer said those allegations and many others had been investigated in the past and found to be groundless. He said the agency was apparently trying to pull an end run around the court by getting involved at this late stage.

The husband's attorney had criticized the last-minute attempt by the agency to step in, saying it was engineered by Gov. Jeb Bush and other state officials supporting the woman's parents, who are trying to keep her alive. The governor has said he will do anything within his power to save Terri Schiavo.

Some doctors say Terri Schiavo is in a persistent vegetative state, with no consciousness. She suffered brain damage in 1990 after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder.

Michael Schiavo has gotten a court order to remove the feeding tube, contending his wife told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. But her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, dispute that, and have fought their son-in-law in court for nearly seven years over their daughter's fate.

The Schindlers also dispute that their daughter is in a vegetative state, saying she laughs, cries, interacts with them and tries to speak when they visit her at the hospice where she lives.

DCF spokesman Tim Bottcher said the agency was weighing its legal options and declined to comment further.

Bush said he was disappointed by the ruling.

"I don't know how DCF can't be involved," Bush said. "There's a law that says if the hot line is called and there's a warranted need for an investigation that there ought be an investigation."

The Schindlers' attorney, David Gibbs III, said the family also was disappointed but is waiting to see how DCF will proceed. One option would be for DCF to take Terri Schiavo into protective custody to keep the feeding tube in place, Gibbs said.

The DCF said it wanted to investigate accusations against Michael Schiavo — who is her legal guardian — that included denying his wife some medical treatment and therapy, isolating her in her room with the blinds closed, failing to fix her broken wheelchair and failing to file timely guardianship plans.

The Schindlers still have two issues pending in the state's 2nd District Court of Appeal, which has said it will rule next week. They also are looking to the state Legislature and perhaps Congress for help; both have bills in the works that lawmakers say could save Terri Schiavo's life.

In Tallahassee on Wednesday, a House committee approved a bill requiring doctors to provide food and water to incapacitated patients who left no instructions.

In 2003, Bush pushed a law through the Legislature authorizing him to resume the woman's artificial feedings six days after the court stopped them. The law was later struck down as unconstitutional by the Florida Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, Rep. Dave Weldon and Sen. Mel Martinez, both Florida Republicans, introduced legislation in Washington that could give the Schindlers access to federal courts in the effort to save their daughter's life.