Federal judge delays ruling on reinsertion of Schiavo's tube

TAMPA, Fla. -- Armed with a new law rushed through Congress over the weekend, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents pleaded with a judge Monday to order the brain-damaged woman's feeding tube reinserted. But the judge appeared cool to the argument.\nU.S. District Judge James Whittemore did not immediately make a ruling after the two-hour hearing, and he gave no indication on when he might act on the request.\nThe hearing came three days after the feeding tube was removed. Doctors have said Schiavo, 41, could survive one to two weeks without the tube.\nThe hearing also followed an extraordinary political fight that consumed both chambers of Congress and prompted the president to rush back to the White House.\nDuring the hearing, David Gibbs, an attorney for the parents, said that forcing Schiavo to die by starvation and dehydration would be "a mortal sin" under her Roman Catholic beliefs.\n"It is a complete violation to her rights and to her religious liberty, to force her in a position of refusing nutrition," Gibbs told Whittemore.\nBut the judge told Gibbs that he was not completely sold on the argument. "I think you'd be hard-pressed to convince me that you have a substantial likelihood" of the parents' lawsuit succeeding, said Whittemore, nominated by former President Clinton in 1999.\nGeorge Felos, one of the attorneys for husband Michael Schiavo, told Whittemore that the case has been aired thoroughly in state courts and that forcing the 41-year-old severely brain damaged woman to endure another re-insertion of the tube would violate her civil rights.\n"Every possible issue has been raised and re-raised, litigated and re-litigated," Felos said. "It's the elongation of these proceedings that have violated Mrs. Schiavo's due process rights."\nTerri Schiavo's feeding tube was removed at 1:45 p.m. Friday, the third such time it has been disconnected. On both previous occasions, the tube was re-inserted by court order.\nThe House, following a move by the Senate, passed a bill Monday to let the parents ask a federal judge to prolong Schiavo's life by reinserting the tube. President Bush applauded the dramatic legislative maneuver.\n"Democrats and Republicans in Congress came together last night to give Terri Schiavo's parents another opportunity to save their daughter's life," Bush said at an event on Social Security in Arizona. "This is a complex case with serious issues, but in extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life."\nMichael Schiavo said he was outraged that lawmakers and the president were intervening in the bitter right-to-die battle. He has fought for years with his wife's parents over whether she should be permitted to die or kept alive through the feeding tube.\n"This is a sad day for Terri. But I'll tell you what: It also is a sad day for everyone in this country because the United States government is going to come in and trample all over your personal, family matters," he told ABC's "Good Morning America" on Monday.\nThe lawsuit alleges a series of rights violations, including that Terri Schiavo's religious beliefs were being infringed upon, that the removal of the feeding tube violated her rights and that she was not provided an independent attorney to represent her interests.