Legal fight of Schiavo parents nears end

PINELLAS PARK - As Terri Schiavo drew closer to death and Christian activists prayed for help for the brain-damaged woman, Schiavo's parents continued Saturday losing their court battle for an Easter miracle.

Reports varied about Schiavo's condition Saturday, her ninth day without food and water. Doctors have said she would probably die a week or two after her feeding tube was pulled on March 18.

A state judge Saturday denied another attempt to restore the feeding tube, rejecting claims that two, monosyllabic moans by Schiavo amounted to a plea for life. And the Florida Supreme Court rejected another appeal Saturday, saying it had no jurisdiction in the case.

Late Saturday evening, Schiavo's parents urged the nearly 200 protestors gathered outside the hospice center to go home and celebrate the Easter holiday with their families. All day, a sense that nothing could save Terri Schiavo appeared to be building among the many Christians gathered - even as they pointed to the symbolism of her death occurring on the holiest weekend of the Christian calendar.

''Time is moving quickly and it would appear most likely . . . that Terri Schiavo will pass the point that she will be able to recover over this Easter weekend,'' said David Gibbs III, an attorney for Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

An attorney for the woman's husband, Michael Schiavo, disagreed and said reports that Schiavo's tongue and eyes were bleeding were untrue.

''I will tell you that as it appears to me, Mrs. Schiavo's death is not imminent by any means,'' George Felos told reporters later Saturday, as four sheriff's deputies stood by to protect him. ''She is resting comfortably. Her breathing does not appear to be shallow.''

But supporters of the Schindlers said Terri Schiavo's breathing became increasingly labored during the day. An attorney for the Schindlers, Barbara Weller, said hospice workers began giving morphine to Schiavo to alleviate pain brought on by her body's failure.

Weller said Schiavo cried when her mother hugged her Saturday night.

''She started crying. She knows what's going on. She was trying to vocalize something with Mary,'' Weller said. ''The governor should know that Terri still knows who her mother is and she's extremely distressed. She's not a vegetable who doesn't know what is happening.''

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Schindlers said Michael Schiavo denied their request to allow his wife to receive the sacrament of communion at sundown Saturday - when Catholics begin celebrating their holiest feast of the year. She received last rites the day the feeding tube was pulled.

''Terri Schiavo . . . a practicing Roman Catholic all her life, has been denied the precious body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ,'' said Paul O'Donnell, who also is a Roman Catholic Franciscan monk. ''This is in violation of her religious rights and freedoms and allows the governor to . . . intervene.''

Terri Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped briefly from a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. She didn't have a living will.

Her husband convinced a judge in a 2000 trial that she had stated she wouldn't want to be kept alive artificially with no hope of recovery. Her parents doubt those end-of-life wishes and even dispute that she is in a persistent vegetative state as court-ordered doctors have determined. They say she laughs, cries, responds to them and tries to talk.

She has now been without food and water longer than she was in 2003, when the tube was removed for six days and five hours. It was reinserted when Bush and the Legislature pushed through a law that was later thrown out by the state Supreme Court.

After Schiavo's father, Bob Schindler, visited his daughter Saturday morning at the Hospice House Woodside, he told reporters, ''She's doing remarkably well under the circumstances. I was surprised. She is putting up a tremendous battle to live. She is not throwing in the towel. She is fighting like hell to stay alive.''

''I want the powers to be to know that it's not too late to save her.''

But spiritual adviser Paul O'Donnell said Schiavo's sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, described the 41-year-old differently: ''It's like someone who is coming out of a bunker in Auschwitz.''

And later in the day, Terri Schiavo's brother said his sister had deteriorated so much that he is urging his parents to stop visiting her.

Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler appeared frustrated and angry after several short walks to where he visited his 41-year old sister.

''I assure you she is not dying peacefully or painlessly,'' he said.

At about 7 p.m., a teary eyed Bob Schindler left his daughter's bedside, apparently not taking his son's advice not to see his daughter. Schindler was visibly shaken and for the first time, even asked a photographer not to take his picture.

Schiavo's husband has spent nearly all of his time by her side, said Felos. He leaves only when her parents or siblings come to visit. They spend much of their time in a small warehouse office across the street from the hospice center.

Schiavo's parents suffered their first of two court defeats Saturday after asking Pinellas County Circuit Court Judge George Greer to order the reinsertion of the tube. They claimed Schiavo had made two sounds - ''Ahhhhhhh'' and ''Waaaaaaa'' - in an attempt to say, ''I want to live.''

But Greer wrote in his order that the sounds were in response to an attorney physically holding the arms of Schiavo, an involuntary response that doctors have previously described, and not a sign of mental function.

''All of the credible evidence this court has received over the last five years is that this is not a cognitive response but rather something akin to a person jerking his/her hand off a hot stove long before he/she has thought about it,'' Greer wrote.

Greer also denied a request to allow a so-called brainwave-reading machine to study Schiavo's thoughts, saying, ''It is clear that this device is for patients with cognitive ability whose ability to vocalize is lost. Terri Schiavo is just the opposite.''

Schindler attorney Gibbs bypassed a state district appeals court and mounted a last-ditch plea at 4 p.m. Saturday with the Florida Supreme Court.

The emergency petition, which alleged that Terri Schiavo was a victim of a ''mercy killing,'' also contended that ''Florida law expressly forbids mercy killing.'' The court said Saturday evening it lacked jurisdiction to overturn Greer's decision.

''This is our last appeal,'' Weller said. ''We do have one more iron in the fire.''

Two other state-level appeals were on the horizon for the Schindlers and Gov. Jeb Bush, whose legal team has spent the last several days scouring state laws for ways to take custody of the woman.

Many supporters of the Schindlers say Bush could simply ignore the courts and take emergency custody of Schiavo. But Bush, also a devout Roman Catholic, has said he's not willing to go beyond the boundaries of his powers.

Attorneys for Schiavo's parents have decided not to file another motion with a federal appeals court after a devastating series of losses.

Michael Schiavo's brother Scott said the family was pleased to see the Schindlers' efforts nearing an end.

''He knows in his heart he is doing the right thing, he is doing what Terri wanted,'' Scott Schiavo said. Outside the hospice center, nearly 200 people gathered to support Schiavo's parents who have waged a long, losing battle to override their son-in-law's decision. The crowd was subdued. At one point, police mobilized outside the hospice after hearing ''chatter in the crowd'' that some protesters might try to run into the heavily guarded hospice.

Other than two additional arrests - bringing the total to 35 - of people trying to bring cups of water to Schiavo, the crowd mostly prayed silently as the sun was going down.

''I don't think there is any more we can do,'' said Shirley Gibson of Fort Myers. ''It is so sad. I don't understand why no one can stop this.''

Some said they believed it wasn't a coincidence that the woman would lay dying during the Easter weekend.

Terri Schiavo was reared in the Roman Catholic church and her parents have made heavy use of her faith as the basis for the numerous appeals to reinsert the feeding tube that was removed more than a week ago.

The family made a plea Saturday that a Catholic priest be allowed to give Schiavo Holy Communion to celebrate Easter - a time when Christians around the world celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Felos, the attorney for Michael Schiavo, said Schiavo's wife received communion when the feeding tube was removed on March 18. He said they would try to give her communion again before she dies.

Standing outside the hospice center, Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry said political leaders must act now.

''Every hour that Terri clings to consciousness is a testimony of her desire to live and is an indictment of those who have the power to save her and don't,'' Terry said, being met by occasional cheers and amens from many demonstrators who idolize him.

''It's Holy Saturday, the day the disciples were filled with despair because Christ was crucified,'' he said. ''But a miracle was just around the corner. We have not given up hope for a miracle.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.