Schindlers: Nowhere To Turn?

Terri Schiavo's breathing was labored and she showed signs of kidney failure as the Supreme Court on Wednesday once again refused to order her feeding tube reinserted, dealing another blow to her parents' attempts to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

The decision, announced in a one-sentence order, marks the sixth time since 2000 that the court has refused to get involved in appeals filed by Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

Schiavo, 41, has been without food and water since March 18th, when her feeding tube was removed by a court order enforcing what her husband, Michael Schiavo, insists would be her wish to die under these medical circumstances.

The Schindlers doubt she had any end-of-life wishes and dispute that she is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined. They say she laughs, tries to speak and responds to them when they visit the hospice.

Terri Schiavo suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance apparently brought on by an eating disorder.

For several hours Wednesday, a federal appeals court raised a flicker of hope for the Schindlers, but snuffed it out by firmly and resoundingly declining to intervene in the grueling legal battle.

"Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper," the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote. "While the members of her family and the members of Congress have acted in a way that is both fervent and sincere, the time has come for dispassionate discharge of duty."

"Any pretense of a meaningful legal battle now over Terri Schiavo is over," says "Her parents still may try to get into court - there is no law against it - but it is hard to imagine any judges even willing now to entertain a motion or hold a hearing."

"This is about as swift and as unanimous a rejection you can get from the federal courts," says Cohen. "In the span of roughly ten days, the Schindlers were rejected twice by a federal trial judge, four times by the federal appeals court, and twice by the Supreme Court."

"No matter which way Congress or the White House spin it, the simple fact is that they tried to throw a fast one by the judiciary and the federal courts would have none of it," adds Cohen. "The courts didn't just reject the Schindlers - judge after judge rejected the special legislation Congress passed on their behalf and the President's involvement as well."

Some experts say even if Schiavo's feeding tube were reinserted now, it might not save her.

Dr. Sean Morrison, a professor of palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, said it is hard to predict what would happen if the tube were to be reinserted because it is highly unusual to do that after life-prolonging treatments have been stopped.

He said that if her kidneys have already shut down, reinserting the tube at this point might prolong her life by just hours or days. However, it could also hasten her death, he said, because it would supply fluids to a body that can no longer get rid of them.

Schiavo's parents, saying Terri still looks "surprisingly good," are asking their supporters to keep up efforts to reconnect her feeding tube before it is too late.

"We know that some of her organs are still functioning... It's not too late," said Bob Schindler.

But time is running out. Tuesday, Schindler described his daughter as "failing."

Wednesday, a man was arrested when he tried to take a plastic cup of water into the hospice. Officers stopped him at the gate as he shouted: "You don't know God from Godzilla!"

He is the 48th protester arrested since the tube was removed.