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Appeals court backs tube removal

Appeals Court Refuses to Order Schiavo's Feeding Reinstated

A federal appeals court refused early Wednesday to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, denying an emergency request by the severely brain-damaged woman's parents to keep her alive.

In its 2-1 ruling, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals said the woman's parents ``failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims.''

``There is no denying the absolute tragedy that has befallen Mrs. Schiavo,'' the ruling read. ``We all have our own family, our own loved ones, and our own children. However, we are called upon to make a collective, objective decision concerning a question of law.''

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, vowed another appeal Wednesday.

``The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life,'' said Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing the parents.

The Schindlers said Tuesday that their daughter was ``fading quickly'' and might die at any moment. The feeding tube was disconnected on Friday, and doctors have said that Terri Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without water and nutrients.

A man who answered Bob Schindler's cellular phone declined comment Wednesday.

The Schindlers have been locked for years in a battle with Schiavo's husband over whether her feeding tube should be disconnected. State courts have sided with Michael Schiavo, who insists his wife told him she would never want to be kept alive artificially.

The decision came less than 24 hours after U.S. District Judge James Whittemore of Tampa rejected the parents' request to have the tube reinserted, saying they had not established a ``substantial likelihood of success'' if a new trial were held on their claim that Terri's religious and due process rights have been violated.

Even before the parents' appeal was filed with the 11th Circuit, Michael Schiavo urged the court not to grant an emergency request to restore nutrition.

``That would be a horrific intrusion upon Mrs. Schiavo's personal liberty,'' said the filing by his attorney, George Felos. He filed a response to the Schindlers' appeal and said he would go to the U.S. Supreme Court if the tube were ordered reconnected.

Demonstrators who gathered outside Terri Schiavo's hospice decried the decision early Wednesday.

``This is a clear cut case of judicial tyranny. All the judges who have ruled against Terri are tyrants, and we fully expected this decision,'' said Tammy Melton, 37, a high school teacher from Monterey, Tenn.

Hmmm...

I wonder if judges throughout the country realize that they must now be whores for the right wing or they will be slandered for being unpardonably biased any time they rule against the interests of radical Republicans? Do they know that any judgment that differs from Randall Terry's or Tom DeLay's is no longer attributable to a difference in legal opinion but is instead considered a reflection of their dishonesty and corruption? Perhaps many of them don't mind being a rubber stamp for Grover Norquist and Jerry Falwell. It certainly makes the job easier.