The Killing of Terri Schiavo Begins

Doctors removed Terri Schiavo's feeding tube this afternoon as scheduled.

Experts say her death by starvation will be agonizing and will take a week or two unless she is rescued.

"In our eyes, it's murder," her father, Bob Schindler, said today on CBS's "Early Show."

The tube's removal came just hours after Florida Gov. Jeb Bush told Mrs. Schiavo's parents that he was instructing his legal staff to find a way to block the court order allowing her husband, Michael Schiavo, to end his wife's life.

"We are going to seek whatever legal alternatives are available and seek the best minds to find another avenue to submit to the courts to see if there can be a change in this ruling," Bush said.

"I am not a doctor. I am not a lawyer. But I know that if a person can be able to sustain life without life support, that should be tried," the governor said, though the "ultimate decision of this is in the courts."

Bob Schindler Jr., Mrs. Schiavo's brother, said the family was heartened by the governor's last-minute effort. "The family has not given up hope on Terri," he said. "We have spoken to the governor, and he hasn't given up hope either."

Schiavo's attorney George Felos said the Schindlers were "still in denial" over what he said were Mrs. Schiavo's wishes not to be kept alive.

Some doctors have testified that the noises and facial expressions Mrs. Schiavo makes are reflexes and do not indicate that she has enough mental capabilities to communicate. The Schindlers believe otherwise.

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