``Terri is fading quickly, and her parents reasonably fear that her death is imminent,'' wrote attorney David Gibbs III, on behalf of Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler.

Gibbs argued in court pleadings that if Schiavo's feeding tube is not reinserted, Congress will have acted in vain.

Earlier Tuesday, in Tampa, U.S. District Judge James D. Whittemore refused to order the feeding tube reinserted. The judge concluded in a 13- page ruling issued at 6 a.m. that the Shindlers had failed to show they had a substantial chance of prevailing in court.

Amid the flurry of legal pleadings, the Schiavo case reverberated well beyond Florida, with swift reactions to Whittemore's ruling erupting as far away as Vatican City.

Schiavo's feeding tube was removed Friday. In response, Congress convened an extraordinary weekend session to pass a law giving the federal courts jurisdiction to review the case.

In Washington on Tuesday, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas accused Whittemore of getting it wrong, blasting the ruling as ``at odds with both the clear intent of Congress and the constitutional rights of a helpless young woman.''

U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R- Oviedo, said, ``We didn't get a fresh review. ... The federal judge for whatever reason deliberately didn't take a fresh look.''

The Vatican had harsh words for Whittemore, publishing a front-page editorial in its newspaper saying that removing the feeding tube amounted to capital punishment for someone who has committed no crimes.

In a statement that appeared to misrepresent Whittemore's ruling, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said, ``She has no possibility of being `restored' to a `normal' life. Therefore Terri Schiavo must die. ... This is ... the absurd and terrifying reason'' for the judge's decision.

Whittemore's ruling contained no such reasoning.

A 15-Year Struggle

Terri Schiavo lapsed into what doctors call a persistent vegetative state 15 years ago when her brain was deprived of oxygen. Eight years later, her husband, Michael, persuaded a state judge in Pinellas County to remove her feeding tube. Circuit Judge George Greer, after hearing evidence, concluded Terri Schiavo did not wish to live that way. Since then, her parents have fought a continuous legal battle, which twice resulted in the reinsertion of her feeding tube after it was removed.

The second time the tube was removed, in October 2003, Schiavo went without food or water for six days before the tube was reinserted.

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, said Tuesday his client was staying at his wife's bedside. ``He is with Terri on a 24-hour basis,'' he said. ``That's where he is, and that's where he will remain until Terri dies.''

Felos contested the contention that Terri Schiavo is ``fading fast,'' and said, ``Terri is stable, peaceful, calm.''

The attorney praised Whittemore, who he said ``was committed to follow the law, and he did so. I think he did so in the best tradition of the judiciary.''

While the push in Congress for the Schiavo bill came from Republicans, a prominent Democrat, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, is considering introducing legislation that would allow a federal judge to review disputed cases in which people wrote no living will or left other instructions specifying their medical wishes if they became incapacitated.

``The more I looked at the Schiavo case, the more I thought, wait a minute. There are a lot of people in similar situations - maybe not in her specific situation - but because of a disability cannot express themselves or cannot in any way make their desires known,'' Harkin said last weekend.

ACLU Praises Judge

Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, which filed pleadings on behalf of Michael Schiavo, said Whittemore's ruling ``put a wall of privacy around spouses, family members, individuals, everybody who has to sit around the kitchen table and talks about what to do about a terminally ill family member or someone who, like Terri Schiavo, had a catastrophic accident ... Everybody is, now in this country, better protected from politicians who want to sit at your kitchen table and dictate what you should be doing.''

Simon said his organization had lawyers working on the case from California, Boston, Washington, Tampa and Miami.

After receiving the Shindlers' appeal, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals notified attorneys for Michael Schiavo at 2 p.m. Tuesday that they had four hours to file a response. The court gave no indication when it would rule.

Felos predicted, ``This will end up in the Supreme Court brought by . . . one side or the other'' The nation's highest court has twice refused to hear previous appeals in the case.

In Tallahassee, meanwhile, Republican state lawmakers were pressured by groups that want Schiavo's tube to be reinserted and are pinning their hopes on a bill stalled in the Senate. But the bill's sponsor, Sen. Dan Webster, R-Winter Garden, said Tuesday he still didn't have enough support for the bill to reintroduce it.

Outside the Pinellas Park hospice where Terri Schiavo is staying, Mary Schindler sobbed while pleading with lawmakers to act: ``Please senators, for the love of God, save her. I'm begging you. Don't let my daughter die of thirst.''

Nine Republicans joined 12 Democrats in opposing an amendment Webster proposed for the Senate bill last week. When they did, Webster postponed bringing the bill to the floor for final consideration and hasn't brought it up again.

Still, many pro-life groups and supporters of the Schindlers held out hope. They roamed the Capitol halls and stood outside committee meetings. Some went into meetings and confronted lawmakers.

Some plastered ``wanted'' posters throughout the Capitol displaying the faces of the nine Republicans who voted against the bill.

The poster said: ``Wanted the Republican 9 to save Terri's life.''

``I find the posters offensive,'' said Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon. ``I understand that this is a very passionate issue for a lot of people but the irony is they're not going to be helpful to the cause that they seek to advance.''

He added: ``I think every day that passes there's less likelihood there's a legislative or legal remedy that can save Terri Schiavo's life.``

Felos said those nine senators are ``courageously opposing'' their Republican counterparts and he urged Floridians ``to voice their support'' to them with phone calls and e- mails.

Gibbs Claims Judicial Error

The new federal law authorized the U.S. District Court to examine the Schiavo case anew, without regard to the previous rulings in state court. This created a knot of legal logic when the Schindlers based part of their appeal on claims Pinellas Circuit Judge George Greer had acted inappropriately in presiding over the case by serving as both judge and guardian.

Consequently, Whittemore found it necessary to review Greer's actions, finding, ``This court concludes that Theresa Schiavo's life and liberty interests were adequately protected by the extensive process provided in the state courts.''

In his federal appeal, Gibbs said Whittemore should not have taken Greer's action into account. ``The District Court's review of the state court proceedings was in violation of the new act and, therefore, reversible error,'' he wrote.

There were fewer than 40 demonstrators outside Hospice House Woodside in Pinellas Park Tuesday afternoon, far fewer than in recent days. Almost all demanded food and water for Schiavo.

Police arrested one woman who wanted to take water to Schiavo. Lana Jacobs, 56, of Colombia, Mo., clutched a bottle of water and approached police guarding the hospice entrance about 1 p.m. She told them her intentions and refused to walk away when the officers warned her.

A parked Pinellas County sheriff's van awaited. The van was there throughout the morning because police expected others, angry over Tuesday's court decision, to try to get into the hospice, Pinellas Park police Sgt. Mark Berger said.

Reporters Steven Isbitts, Adam Emerson, Allison North Jones and David Sommer contributed to this report. Information from The Associated Press, Knight Ridder/Tribune and the Los Angeles Times was also used.