Federal Judge to Hear Schiavo Case

A federal judge in Tampa Florida was yesterday due to hear the case of Terri Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman, after George Bush and the US Congress intervened overnight to prevent a hospital allowing her to die.

Anticipating an appeal against the Tampa ruling, the regional appeals court in Atlanta was also preparing to consider the case. Legal experts predicted that the case would go all the way to the supreme court in Washington.

An ambulance was standing by at the hospice where Ms Schiavo is being cared for, ready to take her to hospital to have her feeding tube reinserted if the federal court overturned a state court judgment last Friday ordering the tube's disconnection.

In a reflection of the political stakes behind the case, President Bush flew to Washington from his Texas ranch on Sunday to sign a congressional resolution referring the case to the federal courts.

After an extraordinary session of the House of Representatives on Sunday night, the president was woken at the White House just after 1am yesterday and signed the bill outside his bedroom.

He said yesterday: "Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together last night to give Terri Schiavo's parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life. This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life."

Ms Schiavo, 41, has been in what doctors describe as a "persistent vegetative state" since a heart attack in 1990 starved her brain of oxygen. The state court ruled that her feeding tube should be removed after hearing expert medical testimony that her cerebral cortex had atrophied, and that her only movements were reflexes triggered by the brain stem.

Ms Schiavo's fate has split her family. Her husband Michael has long called for her to be allowed to die, while her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought to keep her in intensive care, insisting that she communicates to them with smiles and facial expressions and could recover.

The case has become a rallying point for Christian conservatives who believe that the same sanctity-of-life issues are in play as in abortion issues.

Members of the House of Representatives voted by 203 to 58 to approve a special bill referring the case from the state to the federal judicial system. Their decision was quickly backed by senators.

Democrats and Mr Schiavo say the intervention is a violation of the constitutional separation of powers. "This is ... a sad day for everyone in this country", Mr Schiavo told ABC television, "because the US government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters."