By MITCH STACY Associated Press Writer
TAMPA, Fla. -- Attorneys for the parents of a brain-damaged woman took their battle to federal court Tuesday, but failed to immediately persuade a judge to back their efforts to preserve her life.
However, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Lazzara said he will give attorneys for the parents of Terri Schiavo another chance later this month to argue that the woman's constitutional rights are being violated by her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo.
The federal complaint filed Saturday was the latest effort by Bob and Mary Schindler to delay or halt removal of the feeding tube that is keeping their daughter alive.
The Schindlers say their daughter responds to them when they visit and can be rehabilitated with therapy, despite court-appointed doctors' opinions that she will never recover from "a persistent vegetative state."
Michael Schiavo contends that she had said she would not want to be kept alive if brain dead, and he has for years sought to remove the feeding tube and allow her to die.
State courts have supported his legal efforts, and a judge has scheduled a hearing for Sept. 11 to set a date to have the feeding tube removed.
On Tuesday, New Jersey lawyer Christopher A. Ferrara with the American Catholic Lawyers Association argued that Michael Schiavo - whom he called a "rogue guardian" - has violated his wife's rights under federal laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, by withholding medical treatment and refusing to allow her to fed by mouth.
"(The Schindlers) are about to lose their daughter because no one wants to put a teaspoon of Jello to her mouth," Ferrara said. "It's insane."
Lazzara remained unconvinced that the federal court has any jurisdiction in the case, calling the lawsuit a "quintessential shotgun pleading" designed to delay proceedings.
However, he acknowledged that Ferrara's lawsuit was hastily put together over the weekend and agreed to let him submit another version and argue it later this month.
Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said those issues have already been raised and litigated, over and over.
"I think what the judge realized that after six years of litigation, what we're seeing here are delaying tactics," Felos said.
Terri Schiavo was released from Morton Plant Hospital on Friday, where she was treated for pneumonia and other problems, and sent to Hospice Woodside in St. Petersburg.
Michael Schiavo has denied withholding necessary medical treatment from his wife. She isn't able to swallow properly, he said, which means she is not able to receive nourishment by mouth, as the Schindlers suggest.
Terri Schiavo was 26 in 1990 when she suddenly collapsed in her home after her heart stopped from what doctors believe was a potassium imbalance.
Doctors said the loss of oxygen to her brain left her in a state where she can breathe on her own but is reliant on a liquid nutritional supplement and water delivered through a tube. Doctors have said she would live just 10 to 14 days without it.
THIS IS A DISGRACE AND IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. I've seen Terri in videos with her mom and they're just a mom and her daughter. Terri smiles. How dare they?
Thanks for posting the Townhall link, Floriduh.
I recently read about an elderly woman (who had several strokes?) whose "guardian" decided her feeding should be stopped.
She was still given hydration, though, and it took 5-6 weeks for her to die.
Some of her relatives objected to stopping the feeding. (I think she was an unmarried aunt who had lived with the relatives.)
The woman's priest said she was alert for quite some time. He or someone else couldn't understand why someone couldn't have put a spoonful of food to her mouth now and then.
They said it would have been a kindness to do so.
I think The Mean Team is afraid to put a spoonful of jello to Terri's mouth because she might show she can swallow.
If Terri can swallow it would take away a good part of the "justification" for her murder.