By RICHARD SISKDAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Christa Carpenter of Clearwater, Fla., holds crucifix as she stands among fellow pro-life protesters outside Terri Chiavo’s hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla.
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Protesters gather yesterday before Terri Schiavo's hospice. Schiavo was on sixth day without food or water.
-->WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court dealt a lethal blow to the efforts to keep Terri Schiavo alive yesterday and a Florida judge, noting the tempers surrounding the case, warned Gov. Jeb Bush against taking the law into his own hands.
The severely brain-damaged woman was on her sixth day without food and water as her husband, Michael, appeared to have finally won the right to allow his wife to die.
Terri Schiavo has been diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state for 15 years, and her husband has battled for 12 years with her parents, who believe she can be helped.
Michael Schiavo and Terri's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, held separate bedside vigils yesterday at the hospice near Tampa. Mary Schindler became distraught at the sight of her deteriorating daughter and had to leave the room, family friends said.
The Schindlers lost their last legal hopes yesterday when the full Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
About the same time, Florida state Circuit Court Judge George Greer dismissed Bush's effort to enter new medical evidence alleging that Schiavo's brain damage was "misdiagnosed."
Greer also took the remarkable step of alerting county sheriffs to block any attempt by state troopers to remove Schiavo from the hospice.
Earlier in the week, Bush had threatened to seize custody of Terri.
"I don't want this thing to turn into a donnybrook" that would turn a tragic family feud into a fiasco as troopers faced off with sheriffs, Greer said.
Bush's lawyers quickly entered the same motion with Federal District Judge James Whittemore, who has previously refused to restore Terri's feeding tube. Whittemore said he would rule quickly, but warned lawyers to eliminate the "emotional rhetoric" because it "does not influence this court."
Most of the lawyers and politicians involved in the emotional case indicated that there was nothing left to be done legally.
"We believe that effectively ends the litigation in this case," said George Felos, the lawyer for Michael Schiavo.
The White House issued a statement saying: "The President is saddened by the latest ruling. When there is a complex case such as this, where serious questions have been raised, the President believes we ought to err on the side of life."
Bush and his brother Gov. Bush came under pressure from Christian conservative supporters of the Schindlers to ignore court orders and use their police powers to stop Schiavo from dying.
The supporters announced a protest today at the governor's mansion and ripped the Bushes for knuckling under to "activist judges."
"It's now up to Gov. Bush," said the Rev. Patrick Mahoney outside the Pinellas Park, Fla., hospice where he led a handful of demonstrators.
"Regardless of a court order, we reject the fact that he [Bush] is powerless," said Mahoney, a veteran of right-to-life demonstrations and an "adviser" to the Schindlers.
"We have been bitterly disappointed and are hoping still that Gov. Bush will intervene," said Randall Terry, another self-described "adviser."
The governor acknowledged that his hands are tied.
"It is frustrating for people to think that I have power that I don't, and not be able to act," he said. "I don't have embedded special powers. I wish I did in this particular case."
With News Wire Services
DAY 7
Friends of Terri Schiavo's parents gave these descriptions of her:
Eyes sinking
Skin turning gray
Signs of dehydration
Condition weakening Originally published on March 25, 2005

Terri your suffering is almost over, rest in peace. My heart goes out to Terri's family, both sides. To lose a wife or daughter is tragic, but just as tragic is the political showboating and exploitation that has went on.