The parents of Terri Schiavo, the badly brain damaged woman at the center of contentious right to die debate, will take their case to a federal appeals court in Atlanta after a federal district judge Tuesday in Florida rejected their request to order doctors to reinsert the feeding tube that has kept the woman alive for 15 years.

Federal Judge James Whittemore released his decision early Tuesday morning and in it he wrote there was nothing in the Schiavo’s arguments to warrant overturning earlier rulings made by Florida courts.

He took note of Congress' expressed interest but wrote that "even under these difficult and time strained circumstances," he was "constrained to apply the law to the issues before" him.

Whittemore held a two-hour hearing Monday on the request, a little more than 12 hours after the President signed an emergency measure giving federal courts jurisdiction in the emotionally charged case.

Mr. Bush cut short a weekend visit to his Central Texas ranch to return to Washington to be available to sign the bill.

The U.S. Senate approved the bill Sunday and the U.S. House voted it into law at about 11:30 p.m. CST after three hours of debate.

Schiavo has been without water or nutrition since Friday when a Florida state judge cleared the way for removal of the tube.

Supporters have maintained vigils outside both the Florida Capitol and the facility where Schiavo is cared for.

A woman outside Schiavo’s hospice Tuesday called the ruling “terrible.”

"They're going to talk and talk and she's going to die,” she said.

Schiavo's brother, Bobby Schindler, told NBC the ruling left him
"at a loss for words."

Schindler says it's "barbaric" that his sister is being "slowly starved to death for no reason."

He says what's happening is "not Terri's will" and that she should be given an attorney.

In their filing, Schiavo's parents claim a series of violations of their daughter’s rights.

Their suit says her religious beliefs are being infringed, the removal of her feeding tube violated her rights and that she hasn't been provided a lawyer.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in February 1990 when her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance.

Court-appointed doctors say she is in a persistent vegetative state.

Her husband Michael says she once told him she would not want to live in such a state, but her parents disagree and claim that other experts hold out hope of recovery.

Florida Circuit Court Judge George Greer ordered in February that the feeding tube that has kept the 41 woman alive since 1990 remain in place until Friday, March 18.

The ruling came two days after Schiavo’s parents sought to block their son-in-law from ordering doctors to remove the tube.

Schiavo’s husband and parents have fought a running legal battle since the 1990s over the woman’s fate.

In January, U.S. Supreme Court Justices rejected an appeal from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush seeking reinstatement of a Florida law that barred Michael Schiavo from instructing doctors to remove the feeding tube.

Florida lawmakers passed the law in 2003 requiring the feeding tube be reconnected, but the Florida Supreme Court later struck down the measure.

Click Here For Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation Web Site