[Mb-civic] CBC News - U.S. COURT GRANTS REVIEW IN SCHIAVO CASE

Wed Mar 30 19:54:15 PST 2005

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U.S. COURT GRANTS REVIEW IN SCHIAVO CASE
WebPosted Wed Mar 30 01:02:11 2005

ATLANTA, GA.---A U.S. federal appeal court agreed early Wednesday to
consider a request for a new hearing on whether to reconnect Terri
Schiavo's feeding tube.

The ruling by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, announced before 1 a.m.
local time Wednesday, came as the brain-damaged Florida woman edged
closer to death on her 13th day without nourishment.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have fought a seven-year court
battle because they believe their daughter wants to live and can recover
after 15 years of being in a persistent vegetative state.

 INDEPTH: Persistent vegetative state

Michael Schiavo insists his wife, who is now 41, would never have wanted
to live in her current state.

The federal appeal court ruling was sure to surprise many legal experts,
who said the Schindlers had exhausted all legal options after they lost
two more appeals in Florida courts on Saturday.

In their latest request for a new hearing, the Schindlers argued that a
federal judge in Tampa should have considered the entire state court
record and not just the procedural history when he ruled against them
last week.

The appeals court did not say when it would decide whether to grant the
new hearing.

Jesse Jackson prays with parents

Just hours earlier, Rev. Jesse Jackson joined the Schindlers to pray
outside the Florida hospice where Schiavo lingered, asking God to work
a miracle.

"This is one of the profound moral, ethical issues of our time &#8230;
today we pray for a miracle, for God's intervention and God has done it
before," Jackson told reporters after meeting with Schiavo's parents.

He also appealed to U.S. legislators to "please help us find some way to
get food and water to Terri."

"While the law is important, the law must be tempered with mercy to have
justice. We ask for justice today," said Jackson.

Jackson was only the latest in a long string of well-known figures who
have waded into the case, including President George W. Bush and his
brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The president signed legislation that allowed the parents to appeal to
federal courts, beyond the Florida state courts where they had already
lost. Those appeals were unsuccessful.

The governor tried legal and political manoeuvres, including an effort to
make her a ward of the state, which also failed legally.

Schiavo has been taken off her feeding tube twice before and later
reattached.