PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (Reuters) - The parents of a brain-damaged Florida woman, Terri Schiavo, asked the full U.S. appeals court in Atlanta on Wednesday to consider their request her feeding tube be reinserted after a court panel earlier rejected their appeal.
The parents asked for an "expedited rehearing" of the case by all 12 judges of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (news - web sites) in Atlanta after a three-judge panel upheld a lower federal court's refusal to order the feeding resumed.
The parents were also seeking help from Florida lawmakers to try to prolong the life of their daughter alive whose feeding tube was removed five days ago under a state court order.
Bob and Mary Schindler's fight to keep their daughter alive -- against the wishes of her husband and legal guardian -- has become a cause celebre for evangelical Christians, anti-abortion activists and has won support from the Republican-led U.S. Congress and President Bush (news - web sites).
"She is being starved to death. She is dying. We beg the governor, the family begs the governor and the state to intervene," said Brother Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk who is a spiritual adviser to the Schindler family.
O'Donnell, speaking outside the hospice in Pinellas Park where Schiavo is being cared for, was referring to Gov. Jeb Bush, brother of the president, and the possibility of last-minute intervention by the Florida Legislature.
Florida lawmakers failed to pass a bill to keep Schiavo alive last week, but the Florida Senate was meeting later on Wednesday and could take up the effort anew.
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