Court agrees to emergency appeal for Schiavo

A FEDERAL appeals court agreed to consider an emergency bid by Terri Schiavo’s parents for a new hearing on whether to reconnect her feeding tube, raising their fading hopes of keeping the severely brain-damaged woman alive.

In its order late on Tuesday, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals didn’t say when it would decide whether to grant the hearing. It was not clear what effect reconnecting Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube would have on her, as she approached her 13th day without nourishment.

The order issued allowed Bob and Mary Schindler to file the appeal, even though the court had set a March 26 deadline for doing so.