Judge rules to let feeding-tube woman die

A US federal judge yesterday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, denying an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman’s parents.

The ruling by District Judge James Whittemore in Tampa, Florida, came after feverish action by US President George W Bush and the US Congress to introduce legislation allowing her contentious case to be reviewed by federal courts.

The judge said the 41-year-old woman’s parents had not established a “substantial likelihood of success” at trial on the merits of their arguments. He ruled, as other judges have in the past, to allow Ms Schiavo to die.