Brain Damage Newsroom

Congress Reaches Compromise On Terri Schiavo Case

The case of Terri Schiavo could yet move from state court jurisdiction to the federal courts. As the brain-damaged 41-year-old woman spent her first day without a feeding tube Saturday, Congressional leaders announced a compromise agreement that would allow a federal court to determine who has the right-- her husband or her parents -- to remove the tube that had kept her alive. "We think we have found a solution," the Associated Press quotes House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, as saying at a news conference. "All sides agree that this is the best way to proceed." Final approval of the bill could come Sunday, when the Senate votes on it. The AP quotes DeLay as saying President Bush would sign the bill as soon as it got to him. An important aspect of the new legislation would be reinserting Schiavo's feeding tube while arguments from both sides were heard in federal court. The tube was removed Friday by doctors after Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer, who has been hearing arguments in the case for years, refused a request from U.S. House attorneys to delay the removal. "I have had no cogent reason why the (congressional) committee should intervene," the wire service quotes Greer telling attorneys in a conference call. The removal of the feeding tube Friday came despite a last-minute push by Congressional Republicans to keep the tube in while new legislation was submitted. Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said his client was at his wife's side shortly after the tube was removed, according to AP. Schiavo suffered severe brain damage 15 years ago when her heart stopped due to a chemical imbalance. Without the tube, experts predict she could live for as long as 14 days. Michael Schiavo has sought for years to have the tube removed, saying that's what his wife would have wanted. Her parents, however, disagree with court-appointed doctors who have said she's in a permanent vegetative state with no chance of recovery. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to intervene in the case.