Appeals Court Denies Terri Schiavo's Parents, Criticizes Bush

As Terri Schiavo lies dying in a Florida hospice, her parents are grasping at final legal straws to have her feeding tube reconnected, without success. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta agreed to consider another emergency bid by Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, for a new hearing in their case. The same court rejected appeals by the Schindlers three times last week. Wednesday afternoon the court again rejected their request for a new hearing, saying that any further action would be improper and that it is now time for a "dispassionate discharge of duty."

As part of his finding, Judge Stanley Birch had harsh criticism for the President and Congress, saying that although their motivation was sincere and heartfelt in allowing the Schiavo case to be heard in federal court, the method they used to accomplish it went against the Constitution. "In resolving the Schiavo controversy, it is my judgment that, despite sincere and altruistic motivation, the legislative and executive branches of our government have acted in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers' blueprint for the governance of a free people -- our Constitution," Birch wrote. In order to have been granted, seven of the court’s 12 judges would have had to support the request. The vote breakdown was not disclosed after the ruling, but one judge did not vote because he is recovering from surgery. Two dissenting judges felt that Schiavo’s tube should have been reinserted to give the court time to go over the Schindler’s appeals in more detail.

In their latest request, the Schindlers argued that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals hadn’t considered whether there was enough "clear and convincing evidence" that their daughter would have chosen to die in her current condition. But the judges who agreed to reject their appeal claim that there is "abundant testimony" that Schiavo herself never wanted to be kept alive artificially, and that judges in Florida had properly applied the law in ordering her feeding tube to be removed.

According to Dr. Sean Morrison, professor of palliative medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, reconnecting Schiavo’s feeding tube at this point could prove disastrous for both her and her family rather than saving her life. Schiavo has been without food or water for 13 days, so if her kidneys have already shut down, reinserting the tube at this point might prolong her life by just a few hours or a few days, but what the actual result might be is unclear. Reinserting the tube could actually hasten her death because it would introduce fluids into a body that can no longer get rid of them if her kidneys are not functioning. Morrison said that the resulting fluid buildup would, in essence, drown Schiavo and she could die choking and gasping rather than dying peacefully in her sleep. Although Schiavo would have no awareness of this because of her persistent vegetative state, reinserting the tube at this point might end up being extremely distressing for her family to witness if they are in the room when she passes away. But if the Schindlers continue to spend their time filing legal appeals in vain, they may not have to worry about being there when their daughter dies anyway. Perhaps it is time for them to let go.