U.S. media reports say a federal judge in Florida has refused to order Terri Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted.

The reports say U.S. District Judge James Whittemore Tuesday denied an emergency request made by the brain-damaged woman's family.

Judge Whittemore's decision comes after Congress passed and President Bush signed legislation permitting a federal court review of her case.

Mrs. Schiavo has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state since a 1990 heart attack. Her feeding tube was removed last Friday.

She has been the subject of years of legal battles between her parents, who believe she could recover, and her husband, who says she told him she did not want to be kept alive artificially.