Court Says Yes To Schiavo Parents
March 30, 2005
(CBS/AP) A federal appeals court early Wednesday granted Terri Schiavo's parents the right to file a petition for rehearing for an injunction that could allow their daughter's feeding tube to be reconnected.
The ruling came just after midnight from a federal appeals court in Atlanta.
On Tuesday, Schiavo's 12th full day without food or water, the Rev. Jesse Jackson prayed with her parents and joined conservatives in calling for state lawmakers to order her feeding tube reinserted.
The former Democratic presidential candidate was invited by Schiavo's parents to meet with activists outside Schiavo's hospice. His arrival was greeted by some applause and cries of "This is about civil rights!"
"I feel so passionate about this injustice being done, how unnecessary it is to deny her a feeding tube, water, not even ice to be used for her parched lips," he said. "This is a moral issue and it transcends politics and family disputes."
As the Schiavo deathwatch drags on, CBS News Correspondent Mark Strassmann spoke with two families who grappled with the same issues as the Schindlers and Michael Schiavo. On one side are Dorothy and Michael Brocato, who have provided care for their brain-damaged daughter Lisa, who suffered brain damage from a heart attack 15 years ago.
"We have devoted our lives to taking care of Lisa, says her mother. The Brocatos are sympathetic to the Schindler's wish to keep Terri Schiavo alive
"I love her. I love her. I couldn't picture not having her around me,'' says Dorothy Brocato.
Ron Oister has watched the Schiavo drama play out from a very different perspective. When Oister's father was essentially brain-dead, his son's wrenching decision was to let his father go.
"It was very hard,'' Oister told Strassmann. "That was my father. And he was in front of me. And I knew he could never return to what he had been."
Oister says Schiavo's parents helped create this needless public spectacle because they refused to face their hard reality.
"She died then, not now. My own experience would say that one ends life at that time."
Jesse Jackson's visit provided an emotional boost to Schiavo's parents and siblings, who have maintained that Schiavo would want to be kept alive. Her husband, Michael Schiavo, insists he is carrying out her wishes by having the feeding tube pulled.
Mary Schindler, Terri Schiavo's mother, later made a terse but emotional appeal to Michael Schiavo: "Michael and Jodi, you have your own children. Please, please give my child back to me." Michael Schiavo and fiancee Jodi Centonze have two children, born long after Terri Schiavo fell into paralysis.
Although supporters of the Schindlers have claimed the dehydrated woman is being denied comfort measures such as ice chips for her dry mouth or balm for chapped lips, George Felos, the husband's attorney, defended how Schiavo is being cared for.
"Obviously, the parents and the siblings are desperate. Desperation may lead to different perceptions," Felos told CNN. "I can only tell you what I've seen, and Terri is dying a very peaceful, cared-for death." Felos did not return phone messages seeking comment from The Associated Press.
Jackson said he asked Michael Schiavo for permission to see the brain-damaged woman but was denied. He also telephoned black legislators in a last-ditch effort to bring back a bill that would prohibit severely brain-damaged patients from being denied food and water if they didn't express their wishes in writing. Lawmakers rejected the legislation earlier this month and appeared unlikely to reconsider it.
One of those contacted by Jackson, Democratic state Sen. Gary Siplin, said he told Jackson the issue had been "thoroughly discussed." Senate Democratic leader Les Miller added, "I have voted. It's time to move on."
The chief sponsor of the measure, state Sen. Daniel Webster, said he knew of no changed votes and that Jackson's efforts may have come too late.
"If he could sway votes — and I'm certain he may be able to — it would have been helpful if he had done that a little earlier" said Webster, a Republican. "We're running out of time. To do it now is not as timely as a couple of weeks ago would have been."
Bob Schindler described his daughter as "failing" following his visit Tuesday.
"She still looks pretty darn good under the circumstances," Schindler said. "You can see the impact of no food and water for 12 days. Her bodily functions are still working. We still have her."
First lady Laura Bush also commented on the case Tuesday, saying the government was right to have intervened on behalf of Schiavo.
"It is a life issue that really does require government to be involved," Bush said aboard a plane bound for Afghanistan, where she was to promote education and women's rights.
During Jackson's visit, a man was tackled to the ground by officers when he tried to storm into the hospice, police said. He became the 47th protester arrested since the feeding tube was removed March 18. The man had two bottles of water with him but did not reach the hospice door, police said.
Doctors have said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two of the tube being removed. She 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.
The parents also lost another round in the courts Tuesday when an appeals court upheld a pervious ruling by Judge George Greer that blocked the Department of Children and Families from intervening in the case.
Court Says Yes To Schiavo Parents