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Judge rejects right-to-die delay
A US judge has ruled that a feeding tube may be removed from a brain-damaged woman despite a Senate move to stop it.
Earlier on Friday, the Senate ordered Terri Schiavo to appear before a committee in the hope that by doing so, it would stop her feeding tube from being withdrawn.
But a Florida judge has re-instated an order for life support to be removed.
The latest tussle over Mrs Schiavo follows years of court battles.
Mrs Schiavo's parents want to keep her alive, and her husband, who is her legal guardian, does not.
Mrs Schiavo, 41, has been in a persistent vegetative state since 1990, and is not expected to recover.
Michael Schiavo says his wife would not want to be kept alive in her current condition.
Congressional orders
The Senate had intervened earlier on Friday by issuing subpoenas ordering Mr and Mrs Schiavo to testify later this month.
Senate Majority leader Bill Frist said in a statement the move was intended to keep her alive.
"The Senate and House remain dedicated to saving Terri Schiavo's life," the statement on his website said.
He added that US law made it a crime "to obstruct or impede a witness' attendance".
A lawyer working with Mr Schiavo disputed the Senate's power to force a delay.
"This is clearly an effort to circumvent a lawful court order by a state judge," Howard Simon of the American Civil Liberties Union said, the Associated Press reported.
"I am not sure how a subpoena, which is ordinarily done to produce records or somebody to testify, can essentially have the effect of an injunction overriding the orders of a court."
The Florida hospice where Mrs Schiavo lives said it had received a subpoena on Friday, but did not say who it was for or how they would respond.
Court battles
Florida courts have so far rejected efforts by the parents to stop the feeding tube from being removed.
And the US Supreme Court has refused to step in to rule on a fresh appeal from her parents to intervene in the case.
Even if the tube is removed, Mrs Schiavo will not die immediately, but she would be deprived of food.
The case has galvanised activists from both sides of the euthanasia debate.
President George W Bush said the case of Terri Schiavo raised complex issues.
"Yet in instances like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws and our courts should have a presumption in favour of life," Mr Bush said.
Mrs Schiavo suffered brain damage after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder.
Let her go already will you..
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