Plea to reconnect Schiavo feeding tube rejected again

A SEVEN-YEAR legal battle was drawing to a tragic end for the parents of Terri Schiavo last night, as last-ditch efforts to have her feeding tube re-inserted were blocked yet again by the courts.

Bob and Mary Schindler have exhausted almost every avenue in their bid to keep their brain-damaged daughter alive, a fight which has gripped the US and evolved into an unprecedented political storm.

The US Supreme Court yesterday rejected pleas to have the feeding tube reconnected. It was the fifth time it has refused to intervene in the case.

Just hours later Florida Circuit Judge George Greer ruled that the state could not legally take custody of the 41-year-old woman, now struggling through her sixth day without food or water.

He rejected allegations that Ms Schiavo’s husband, Michael, had abused her as well as evidence from a Florida doctor who claimed she was not in a persistent vegetative state.