February (Web-only) 2005

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The parents of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo found short-term success for the second day in a row Wednesday, but prospects of legally keeping a feeding tube connected for a longer reprieve continued to dwindle.

"The stay is only temporary and her life is still very much at risk," said National Right to Life spokeswoman Lori Kehoe.

Following a 24-hour court extension of a deadline on Tuesday, pro-bono attorneys working for Bob and Mary Schindler convinced Circuit Judge George Greer to grant their 41-year-old daughter an additional 48 hours on Wednesday.

The Schindlers began a round-the-clock prayer vigil outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lives. They hope public opinion will pressure Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to call the state legislature into special session to enact a law that would extend Schiavo's life.

That's what happened two years ago, when Bush ordered the feeding tube reinserted six days after its removal. Daniel Webster, the Republican senator in Florida who sponsored the law that has kept Terri Schiavo alive, says he doesn't know what options the state legislature has left.

The Schindlers are hoping a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation uncovers evidence that their daughter sustained serious physical injuries at the hands of her husband during the early years after becoming incapacitated. "Terri's life and the lives of many disabled, elderly, and vulnerable people in Florida hang in the balance," the family said in a statement Wednesday.

George Felos, attorney for Schiavo's husband, Michael, doesn't believe Greer will find enough evidence to overrule his original ruling in 2000 that the feeding tube could be removed, citing an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel. "The court of appeals has found ...