Court Won't Block Tube Removal

A Florida state appeals court refused Wednesday to block removal of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, shifting focus to the Legislature in the right-to-die battle between the brain-damaged woman's husband and her parents.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal turned down parents Bob and Mary Schindler on two key legal issues, allowing Michael Schiavo to have his wife's feeding tube removed as scheduled at 1 p.m. Friday EST.

The court would not overrule Pinellas Circuit Court Judge George Greer, who had refused to give the parents more time to pursue further appeals. The court also declined to order a new trial, which the parents claimed was necessary because their daughter had not been given an independent attorney to represent her interests.

Efforts continued in the Florida Legislature to halt the tube removal, but it was far from certain if that would succeed. The Senate and House were scheduled Thursday to consider competing bills that some negotiators said would be difficult to reconcile in time.

"We need to able to talk long and hard about this," said state Rep. Shelley Vana. "I know that we're trying to meet a deadline, but we have to pass good legislation."

Terri Schiavo left no written instructions before a heart attack left her severely brain-damaged at age 26, leading to four different trials and a Florida law that was overturned in court, reports Gordon Byrd of CBS radio affiliate WHNZ. The 41-year-old woman has been at the center of a long-running legal battle between her husband, Michael, and parents.

Doctors have ruled she is in a persistent vegetative state and Michael Schiavo has said his wife would not want to be kept alive artificially with no hope for recovery.

Her parents dispute that she has no mental cognition and say their daughter responds to them with laughter, smiles and tears.

It is likely it will take one to two weeks for Terri Schiavo to die after the tube is removed.