Appeals panel refuses to order Schiavo feeding
Parents had sought reversal of lower court ruling

Wednesday, March 23, 2005 Posted: 9:11 AM EST (1411 GMT)

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- By a 2-1 vote, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined early Wednesday to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube.

A lawyer for the parents of the brain-damaged woman said they would continue their fight, The Associated Press reported.

Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had filed with the appeals court Tuesday, after U.S. District Court Judge James Whittemore in Tampa, Florida, decided he would not grant a temporary restraining order that would allow reinstatement of the tube.

The tube, which was removed last week, had been providing the 41-year-old woman with water and nutrients since 1990. She is being cared for at a Florida hospice.

"The Schindlers will be filing an appropriate appeal to save their daughter's life," Rex Sparklin, an attorney with the law firm representing the parents, told the AP.

In issuing their majority opinion, 11th Circuit Judges Ed Carnes and Frank Hull said:

"We agree that the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate a substantial case on the merits of any of their claims. We also conclude that the district court's carefully thought-out decision to deny temporary relief in these circumstances is not an abuse of discretion."

More...