No Relief For Terri Schiavo

Once again a single judge has said no to the combined efforts of a fleet of lawyers and pro-life groups, Congress, and President Bush in the Terri Schiavo case:

A federal judge on Tuesday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, denying an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman's parents that had been debated in Congress and backed by the White House.

U.S. District Judge James Whittemore said the 41-year-old woman's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had not established a "substantial likelihood of success" at trial on the merits of their arguments.

Whittemore wrote that Schiavo's "life and liberty interests" had been protected by Florida courts. Despite "these difficult and time-strained circumstances," he wrote, "this court is constrained to apply the law to the issues before it."

Rex Sparklin, an attorney representing Terri Schiavo's parents, said lawyers were immediately appealing to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to "save Terri's life." That court was already considering an appeal on whether Terri Schiavo's right to due process had been violated.

An appeal to the 11th Circuit is underway, but this is probably not going to be successful. With each hour that passes it's more and more unlikely that Terri can be returned to the health she enjoyed before the feeding tubes were pulled.