Bush signs bill to save brain-damaged woman

"Today, I signed into law a bill that will allow federal courts to hear a claim by or on behalf of Terri Schiavo for violation of her rights relating to the withholding or withdrawal of food, fluids, or medical treatment necessary to sustain her life," Bush said in a statement.

"In cases like this one, where there are serious questions and substantial doubts, our society, our laws, and our courts should have a presumption in favor of life."

The bill was rushed to the White House for Bush's signature after the US Congress, brushing aside concerns of overstepping its constitutional bounds, gave final approval to the bill shortly after midnight.

With few Democrats willing to mete out what could be interpreted as a death sentence, the House of Representatives voted 203-58 to hand over the fate of the 41-year-old Schiavo, who has been in a persistent vegetative state for the past 15 years, to a federal court.

The Senate unanimously passed the same measure late Sunday.

"We are very, very, very thankful to have crossed this bridge and we are very hopeful, very hopeful that the federal courts will follow the will of Congress and save my sister's life," Suzanne Vitadamo told reporters outside the hospice where her sister lives in Pinellas Park, Florida.

With the bill now signed into law, Schiavo's feeding apparatus is likely to be re-attached, possibly later Monday, following a federal court hearing.

David Gibbs, an attorney for her family, said the federal court in Tampa had already made arrangement to receive his petition during the night and forward it to an assigned judge.

Terri Schiavo has been incapacitated since a 1990 cardiac arrest that damaged her brain.