Another Door Shut In Schiavo Fight
Federal Judge Again Denies Request To Reinsert Feeding Tube
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Play CBS Video Video Schiavo Deathwatch Terri Schiavo's parents seem to have tried every legal - and political - option. Now that the case appears to be over, people are begging Gov. Jeb Bush to step in, Mark Strassmann reports.
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Video Diagnosis For Schiavo Much of the court cases surrounding Terri Schiavo's life rest on her repeated diagnosis: she's in a vegetative state. One MD's opinion differs, and might have an impact, Elizabeth Kaledin reports.
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(CBS/AP)
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Christi Gourley, of Huntsville, Ala., protests outside Woodside Hospice after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to reinsert Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, Thursday March 24, 2005 in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP)
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Bob Schindler, right, looks on as his wife Mary Schindler, left, leaves after doing an interview about their daughter Terri Schiavo on Wednesday, March 23, 2005 in Pinellas Park, Fla. (AP)
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Interactive Life And Death Battle Terri Schiavo's husband and parents clash over keeping the brain-damaged woman alive.
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Interactive Dying Wishes Learn about living wills and other steps to protect your end-of-life decisions.
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. She left no living will, but her husband argued that she told him she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents dispute that, and contend she could get better.
The dispute has led to what may be the longest, most heavily litigated right-to-die case in U.S. history.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court, without explanation, refused to order the feeding tube reinserted. The case worked its way through the federal courts and reached the Supreme Court after Congress passed an extraordinary law over the weekend to let the Schindlers take their case to federal court.
Later Thursday, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer declined to hear Bush's new allegations that Schiavo was neglected and abused and that her diagnosis as being in a persistent vegetative state may be wrong.
"The requested intervention...appears to be brought for the purpose of circumventing the courts' final judgment and order setting the removal date in violation of the separation of powers doctrine," Greer wrote.
Bush appealed that decision to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. The Florida Supreme Court later declined to take up a separate appeal on a Greer injunction that blocked the state's social services agency from taking temporary custody of Schiavo while challenges are argued. State law allows the Department of Children & Families to act in emergency situations of adult abuse.
The department also filed another petition before Greer seeking to provide emergency protective services for Schiavo. Greer had not scheduled a hearing, but he indicated one could occur Monday, according to Bush's office.
"For this lockdown to occur without having the ability to have an open mind, and say, 'Well, maybe there are new facts on the table, maybe there are new technologies, maybe, just maybe, we should be cautious about this' ... is very troubling," Bush said.
In his ruling, Greer said an affidavit from a neurologist who believes that Schiavo is "minimally conscious" was not enough to set aside his decision to allow the withdrawal of food and water.
"By clear and convincing evidence, it was determined she did not want to live under such burdensome conditions and that she would refuse such medical treatment-assistance," Greer wrote.
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