WASHINGTON – Facing the imminent death of their daughter from starvation and dehydration, the parents of a severely brain-injured Florida woman turned to the governor of Florida, Jeb Bush, in a last-ditch effort to keep her alive after a succession of courts declined to intervene.

Mr. Bush made several attempts yesterday to persuade Florida judges that authorities should be allowed to take Theresa Schiavo, 41, into state protective custody. Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer declined the request, and the state immediately appealed yesterday to the Florida Supreme Court, which also refused the request.

In a case that has drawn attention around the world, Mrs. Schiavo’s parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, have been making frantic efforts to keep her alive after Judge Greer ordered her feeding tube removed last Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday refused their plea without comment.

In Pinellas Park, Fla., where Mrs. Schiavo remains in a hospice bed, her family maintained in numerous court filings that her religious and due process rights were being violated. A federal judge was considering the matter after a hearing yesterday evening.

“It’s very frustrating,” said her brother, Robert Schindler Jr. “Every minute that goes by is a minute that Terri is being starved and dehydrated to death.”

A lawyer for her husband, Michael Schiavo, who maintains that his wife would have wanted to be allowed to die, said he hoped the governor would soon back down.

“We believe it’s time for that to stop as we approach this Easter weekend and that Mrs. Schiavo be able to die in peace,” said the attorney, George Felos.

Republican leaders in Congress convened an emergency session of Congress last weekend to pass a law giving her parents access to the federal courts. Yesterday they declared that all federal options had been “exhausted” and that the matter rests with Florida authorities.

President Bush, through a spokeswoman, also indicated there was nothing he could do.

“The president is saddened by the latest ruling. When there is a complex case such as this, where serious questions and doubts have been raised, the president believes we ought to err on the side of life,” said a White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino. Asked whether the president was contemplating any further legal action, Ms. Perino said, “We know there are still efforts under way by the parents and the state of Florida to save her life, we continue to stand with those who are on the side of defending life.”

Mrs. Schiavo has been brain-damaged since 1990, when her heart stopped briefly due to a chemical imbalance. Doctors have testified that she is in an irreversible vegetative state, incapable of communicating or experiencing emotions.

After lengthy hearings, a Florida judge concluded that Mrs. Schiavo had expressed a wish to her husband and others not to be kept alive in such a condition.

Her parents disagree and argue that she responds to their attention. They have accused her husband, Michael Schiavo, who has since had two children with another woman, of a conflict of interest.

The Florida governor asked the court to allow the state to take custody of Mrs. Schiavo on the basis of a law that allows the state Department of Children and Families to assume control of vulnerable adults who are being abused or neglected.

State lawyers argued to the court that her husband, who is her guardian and controls her care, abused her by keeping her in her hospice room and insisting she is in a persistent vegetative state.

To bolster their argument, state lawyers included an affidavit from a neurologist who claimed past medical diagnoses that she had severe and irreversible brain damage may have been mistaken. The neurologist based his evaluation on a visit with Mrs. Schiavo, although he did not examine her.

Judge Greer, who presided over the original trial, rejected the request. This week, he was asked to leave his Southern Baptist church in Clearwater, Fla., according to the St. Petersburg Times newspaper.

Judge Greer’s ruling has been upheld consistently on appeal in state and federal court.

In a one-sentence order, the Supreme Court yesterday stated that Justice Kennedy, who is responsible for appeals from southern appellate courts, had presented the application for a stay to the court, and it was denied.

No dissents were recorded, and there was no information about how any of the judges had voted.

The result was not surprising, since the Supreme Court had declined to involve itself in the case on past occasions.

House Republican leaders accused the court of misapplying the law they passed in last Sunday’s latenight session.

“Like millions of other Americans, we received word of the Supreme Court’s decision not to grant relief to Terri Schiavo with profound sadness and disappointment,” said a joint statement from the majority leader in the House, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr. of Wisconsin.

“The House and Senate met in extraordinary circumstances to ensure that Terri Schiavo received a federal court hearing to determine whether her federal or constitutional rights had been violated. Sadly, Mrs. Schiavo will not receive a new and full review of her case as the legislation required,” they wrote.”[We] strongly believe that the court erred in reaching its conclusion and that once again they have chosen to ignore the clear intent of Congress.”

Declaring that “federal remedies have been exhausted,” the congressmen urged Governor Bush and the Florida Legislature “to continue examining all options to save Terri’s life.”

Senate Majority Leader Frist, said the facts presented a “compelling case for re-examination of the medical evidence.”

“It is a sad day for her loving family and for their innocent and voiceless daughter,” he said.