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The parents of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo found short-term success for the second day in a row Wednesday, but prospects of legally keeping a feeding tube connected for a longer reprieve continued to dwindle.

"The stay is only temporary and her life is still very much at risk," said National Right to Life spokeswoman Lori Kehoe.

Following a 24-hour court extension of a deadline on Tuesday, pro-bono attorneys working for Bob and Mary Schindler convinced Circuit Judge George Greer to grant their 41-year-old daughter an additional 48 hours on Wednesday.

The Schindlers began a round-the-clock prayer vigil outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lives. They hope public opinion will pressure Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to call the state legislature into special session to enact a law that would extend Schiavo's life.

That's what happened two years ago, when Bush ordered the feeding tube reinserted six days after its removal. Daniel Webster, the Republican senator in Florida who sponsored the law that has kept Terri Schiavo alive, says he doesn't know what options the state legislature has left.

The Schindlers are hoping a Florida Department of Children and Families investigation uncovers evidence that their daughter sustained serious physical injuries at the hands of her husband during the early years after becoming incapacitated. "Terri's life and the lives of many disabled, elderly, and vulnerable people in Florida hang in the balance," the family said in a statement Wednesday.

George Felos, attorney for Schiavo's husband, Michael, doesn't believe Greer will find enough evidence to overrule his original ruling in 2000 that the feeding tube could be removed, citing an earlier ruling by a three-judge panel. "The court of appeals has found otherwise: 'Mrs. Schiavo is blessed with a loving husband who has done his utmost to care for her.'"

After three witnesses made statements, the court found clear and convincing evidence that Schaivo didn't want to be tube-fed, Felos told CT. "Terri has a constitutional right to have her medical wishes honored," said Felos, who contends that even if Michael changed his mind, the court is bound to carry out the order.

But the Schindlers believe their daughter's Catholic faith played an important role in her life and she would never have chosen death by starvation and dehydration.

"The Schindlers know Terri wouldn't want to be killed by starvation, which is a horrifying death," said family attorney Barbara Weller.

Mary Schindler said she keeps up hope for the same reason Sarah Scantlin's parents did in Hutchinson, Kansas. In January, Scantlin spoke for the first time in 20 years after being injured by a drunk driver. Schiavo has been in this condition for 15 years after she suffered cardiac arrest, collapsed, and lost oxygen to her brain for five minutes.

Schindler concedes that her daughter is severely brain damaged, but she refuses to label her as being in a "persistent vegetative state," as Felos does. "Whatever her future, all I want is for my daughter to just have a chance," Schindler told CT.

The Schindlers have found broad support. "Pro-life groups, disability groups, and even liberal feminist groups who don't like the idea of a husband doing away with his wife helped the cause," Weller said.

Felos pointed out that the Schindlers initially agreed to allow Michael to be the guardian. But Mary Schindler said 48 hours after Terri collapsed, Michael asked her and her husband to sign papers they thought only allowed Michael to be the spokesman to the doctor. "We didn't know we were giving up all rights to Terri," said Schindler, who criticized Michael Schiavo for stopping therapy for Terri 12 years ago, not allowing her to leave a hospice room for five years, and for having two children with a live-in girlfriend he has had for the past decade.

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February (Web-only) 2005, Vol. 49