Terry Schiavo

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

Schiavo Dies After Feeding Tube Removed

By MIKE SCHNEIDER

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. (AP) - Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman whose final years tethered to a feeding tube sparked a bitter feud over her fate that divided a family and a nation, died Thursday.

Schiavo, 41, died quietly in a Pinellas Park hospice 13 days after her feeding tube was removed despite extraordinary intervention by Florida lawmakers, Congress and President Bush - efforts that were rebuffed at every turn by the courts.

Her death was confirmed to The Associated Press by Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, and announced to reporters outside her hospice by a family adviser.

``It is with great sadness that it's been reported to us that Terri Schiavo has passed away,'' said Paul O'Donnell, a spokesman for the Schindlers. He said her parents would be making a statement later Thursday.

Thursday, Mar. 31

Timeline: The Many Turns of Terri's Case [Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation]

Dawn Kozsey, 47, a musician who was among those outside Schiavo's hospice, wept when she learned of the woman's death.

``Words cannot express the rage I feel,'' she said. ``Is my heart broken for this? Yes.''

A shy woman who avoided the spotlight, Schiavo spent her final months as the focus of a media frenzy and an epic legal battle between her husband and parents over whether she should live or die.

Protesters streamed into Pinellas Park to keep vigil outside her hospice, with many arrested as they tried to bring her food and water. The Vatican likened the removal of her feeding tube to capital punishment for an innocent woman.

Politicians repeatedly tried to intervene as her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, pleaded for their daughter's life, calling the removal of the feeding tube ``judicial homicide.''

``Something has to be done and has to be done quick,'' Bob Schindler said, a week after the tube was removed March 18, as the family's legal options dwindled. ``I think the people who are anxious to see her die are getting their wish.''

Although several right-to-die cases have been fought in the courts across the nation in recent years, none has been this public, drawn-out and bitter.

Schiavo depended on a feeding tube for more than 15 years after she collapsed and was left in what court-appointed doctors said was a vegetative state. Her husband, Michael, said she would not want to be kept alive artificially and courts agreed.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, kept up their desperate appeals, maintaining that their daughter could improve. They said she laughed, cried, responded to them and tried to talk.

The case wound its way through six courts for seven years; the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene six times, the final time Wednesday. Schiavo's fate was debated on the floor of Congress and by President Bush, who signed an extraordinary bill March 21 that let federal judges review her case.

``In extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life,'' the president said.

But federal courts refused to overturn rulings by state judges. The federal government has usually left right-to-die issues to the states, and the courts repeatedly found the parents' arguments had no merit.

Before people became obsessed with whether she should die, Terri Schiavo avoided the limelight.

Described by her family as a shy woman who loved animals, music and basketball, Terri Schindler grew up in Pennsylvania and battled a weight problem in her youth. She blossomed when the weight came off.

``Terri has always been beautiful from the inside out,'' a friend, Diane Meyer, said in 2003. ``And then when she lost all the weight, she really became quite beautiful on the outside as well. What was inside she allowed to shine out at that point.''

She met Michael Schiavo - pronounced SHI voh - at Bucks County Community College near Philadelphia in 1982. They wed two years later. After they moved to Florida, she worked in an insurance agency.

But recurring battles with weight led to the eating disorder that is blamed for her collapse at age 26. Doctors said she suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped beating because of a potassium imbalance. Her brain was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes before she was revived, doctors estimated.

Because Terri Schiavo did not leave written wishes on her care, Florida law gave preference to Michael Schiavo over her parents. But the law also recognizes parents as having crucial opinions in the care of an incapacitated person.

A court-appointed physician testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

Still, her parents, who visited her nearly every day, reported their daughter laughed, cried, smiled and responded to their voices. Video showing the dark-haired woman appearing to interact with her family was televised nationally. But the court-appointed doctor said the noises and facial expressions were reflexes.

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance. However, that money, which Michael Schiavo received in 1993, has all but evaporated, spent on his wife's care and the court fight. Just $40,000 to $50,000 remained as of mid-March.

Michael Schiavo's lawyers suggested the Schindlers wanted to get some of the money. And the Schindlers questioned their son-in-law's sincerity, saying he never mentioned his wife's wishes until winning the case.

The parents tried to have Michael Schiavo removed as his wife's guardian because he lives with another woman and has two children with her. Michael Schiavo has refused to divorce his wife, saying he feared the Schindlers would ignore her desire to die.

Schiavo lived in her brain-damaged state longer than two other young women whose cases brought right-to-die issues to the forefront of public attention.

Karen Quinlan lived for more than a decade in a vegetative state - brought on by alcohol and drugs in 1975 when she was 21 - until New Jersey courts finally let her parents take her off a respirator. Nancy Cruzan, who was 25 when a 1983 car crash placed her in a vegetative state, lived nearly eight years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that her parents could withdraw her feeding tube.

In those cases, however, the family agreed to end life-saving measures.

Heeding her husband's wishes, a judge first ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed five years ago, and it was briefly removed in 2001. It was reinserted after two days when a court intervened.

In October 2003, the tube was removed again, but Gov. Jeb Bush hastily pushed ``Terri's Law'' through the legislature, allowing the state to have the feeding tube reinserted after six days. The Florida Supreme Court later ruled that law was unconstitutional.

On March 18, the tue was removed for the third and final time.

[Talbot]

It is pretty sad. I am quite ashamed with this country's government as of late. People don't care about other peoples lives anymore. I signed a petition to have that judge impeached.

R.I.P Terry Schiavo

[713 To 214]

It is pretty sad. I am quite ashamed with this country's government as of late. People don't care about other peoples lives anymore. I signed a petition to have that judge impeached.

R.I.P Terry Schiavo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

How can you blame just 1 judge? There were many judges that ruled against Schiavo's parents, including the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Do you want them removed from the bench too? If so, on what grounds?

[jm1fd]

It is pretty sad. I am quite ashamed with this country's government as of late. People don't care about other peoples lives anymore. I signed a petition to have that judge impeached.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah! Bring out the angry mob! What was that judge thinking?!?! Making a decision based on laws and facts! Really, the NERVE! What HAS this country come to??!?!?!?!?

[CincoRanch-HoustonResident]

This country is getting crazy. I should have signed a petition to remove this person. You will never find this in Canada .

[jm1fd]

including the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

BZZZZZT! Wrong! The supremes declined to hear the case....twice.

[713 To 214]

BZZZZZT!  Wrong!  The supremes declined to hear the case....twice.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Technically, you're right. However, the effect is still the same.

[greystone08(returns)]

Yes. very sad story. They may as well as given her a lethal injection rather than starve her to death

[Trophy Property]

I am willing to sign a petition to have this topic banned. It is such a touchy topic and everyone is getting all emotional about it. Ugghh.... I can also ignore the topic !!!

[kjb434]

The important thing to remember is that no court has the last say in anything. Not even the US Supreme Court. Any Supreme Court ruling can be overturned by the president and congress. The founding fathers intended it to be that way.

The court does not have a lot of power. It's sick to see many people believe that the courts are the end all solution.

If that was the case, we would live in an oligarchy (many rules by few elite people). The truth is, if we dislike court rulings we have the power to change it through representative government. This is what pro-lifers have been doing for years. They are actually making progress.

The constitution set up the federal courts to have limited power where the congress back by the voters can reign in and make changes.

Did you know that the congress has the power to remove all the supreme court justices, add justices and rewrite all their rules.

It is sad that many of times congressmen are afraid to oppose rulings. Early on in our country, leaders in congress and presidents routinely overturn rulings and through out bad judges.

Just remember, the people of this country have power. They just have to care to use it.

[Talbot]

I don't believe it was just one judges fault, i believe many people had a foot in the whole ordeal, but the petition had all the rules that the judge broke on it.

Maybe I am jumping on the blame game bandwagon to quick, but I feel that she and her family have been wronged by quite a few people.

Tomorrow I will post the link to the petition if anyone wants me to, to see what I am talking about.

[jmancuso]

i don't believe in impeaching a judge just becuase some people disagree with his rulings. bush & congress overstepped their limits.

this was a lose-lose situation becuase either way, terri would have continued on a vegetable or die. i feel for her parents and i kinda hoped the husband would let them handle her funeral and burial but he was the legal guardian and it was his call during the entire saga.

[kzseattle]

It is pretty sad. I am quite ashamed with this country's government as of late. People don't care about other peoples lives anymore. I signed a petition to have that judge impeached.

R.I.P Terry Schiavo

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Regardless of legality of the whole matter, as the real value of which is nothing more than a piece of paper, if one considers this purely from the perspective of a human being, then what was done with Terri and her parents was nothing less than inhuman. Whether or not her husband was her legal guardian, she was the first-born biological daughter of her parents who started her life and raised her to her maturity. As a parent, can you imagine the anguish of helplessly watching your offspring starved to death AND not even allowed to see her at hour of her death? After he is remarried, which he would most likely do, the husband would no longer be Terri

[713 To 214]

. . .if one considers this purely from the perspective of a human being, then what was done with Terri and her parents was nothing less than inhuman.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Forcing someone in a vegetative state to cling to life (if you can even call it a life at that point), by way of feeding tubes, against her wishes, for years on end, to make a right wing political statement, is inhumane.

[713 To 214]

I think her mental condition is subjective.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's why we have courts with supposedly impartial fact finders (Juries or Judges). No one can be in a better position to accumulate all of the pertinent facts, and make a ruling after applying the facts to the law. Now, certain individuals want to question that. What happened to the respect for RULE OF LAW? The Courts, from day 1 (before all of the media hoopla and right-wing agenda campaigning) looked at the facts and believed what Mr. Schiavo and Medical Professionals were saying was true. Teri's parents had their day in court. . .and my day, and yours, and. . .well you get the picture. The point is they lost every time. So, when the facts are subjective as you stated, I submit there is no better fact finder than an impartial judge or jury. . .not emotionally-charged individuals pushing an agenda.

don't want to turn this into

[Talbot]

alright 27 im at school now, but when i get home ill send it to you.

[ssullivan]

I was disgusted by the way this family's tragedy became a national headline not once, but several times (remember this all flared up a couple of years ago too). Families are forced to make these decisions every day all over the country and fortunately most of the time are able to do so in private. In 1998 my own family had to deal with a very similar issue and I am so thankful that we didn't have a court or the Congress involved in our decision. I was disgusted by the public protests outside the hospice where Terri was living; especially by the people who had their kids out there. What good is accomplished by taking a kid out of school and dragging them across the country to protest something like this?!?. And Tom DeLay and the rest of Congress grandstanding and getting involved was stepping way over the line. I'm sorry if they didn't agree with the court rulings in this case; the fact was that the courts were pretty consistent on the issue, and there was really no need for Congressional intercession. The court system is designed to handle these issues, not Congress. Congress has much higher priorities IMO than dealing with a single family's situation.

I'm not saying Michael Schiavo is a great guy; I disagree with his quickly getting involved with another woman after it was obvious Terri would never recover. I can understand his disagreement with her parents over withdrawing life support, and can even understand him going to court over the issue. The law basically says that when you get married, your "next of kin" shifts from being your parents and siblings to your spouse. Her parents had every right to take the case to court when they disagreed with Michael's decisions, but the fact is that the courts found that he had the right to make this decision as her husband and that the medical evidence showed that there was no hope of recovery. I know it would be terribly difficult to accept defeat in a case like this, but it's always seemed to me that they were somewhat out of touch with the reality of Terri's condition. When CT scans show that most of a person's cerebral cortex has liquified, and that there is only basic brain stem function (not much beyond the autonomic nervous system keeping the heart beating and lungs breathing), there really is no hope of recovery with any treatment. What level of consciousness exists in this state is debatable; however, the level of brain function here is much less than that of a newborn infant. And most medical evidence points toward a person in this state not being able to feel much in the way of pain or discomfort.

I feel sorry for everyone involved in this case, especially because they were all so hateful toward each other for so many years. To me the parents were being extremely selfish by trying to keep their daughter alive by unnatural means against most medical advice; Michael was extremely selfish by locking Terri's parents out of the room during her final minutes and refusing to reconcile with them regarding her funeral and burial (even after winning the court battle the least he could have done was accept that they love Terri as well and honor that); and Congress and the President used the case for their own political gain. I even question the motives of church groups around the country who were holding vigils and their own memorial services for a woman none of these people knew -- do they do this for every dying person in the country or for every family that's faced with a decision regarding life support? NO! Again, it was being done for their own gain, and to promote an agenda. I think all of them should be ashamed for turning a tragedy into a political and public circus.

The one I feel most sorry for is Terri, who probably would have never wanted her life to turn out like this. It's just unfortunate that things were allowed to get to this point, and I hope that some day everyone involved will come to realize what a disaster the case was on all sides, and that they will all feel some remorse for letting this become a public matter.

Now, can we please get our country back to dealing with really important matters, like our economy, the price of oil, our environment, and resolving the Iraq situation?

(And if you don't have a living will and durable power of attorney for medical decisions, get them!)

[713 To 214]

^I appreciate your thoughtful reply to my post 27. I agree that Mr. Schiavo is not an angel in this matter. . .and if I were in his shoes, I would have allowed Teri's family to be present during her last minutes on earth, and at her upcomming funeral. But, I understand human nature. And at the most basic level, I can understand (not identify with) what disdain he feels for Teri's biological family right now after years of emotionally-charged legal wrangling. I can understand that he wouldn't want a media spectacle to occur at Teri's funeral, because Teri's parents want to draw this thing out. I can unsderstand that he is probably damn mad for being villified by conservative attack dogs, called a murderer, and someone trying to take advantage of the weak. That's all human nature. Can you honestly say for certain that your knee-jerk reactions wouldn't be the same? having said that, I wish that Mr. Schiavo and Teri's parents can work something out regarding the upcomming funeral services. You're right in that she will always be her parents' daughter, and because of that, her parents deserve the right to see her laid to rest.

[dbigtex56]

I'm just surprised that conservatives haven't found some way to blame this on "the homosexuals".

[dbigtex56]

Oh, and another thing:

I was watching CNN, and the reporter was blah-blahing about the protesters in this case. Several people marched behind her, holding signs.

The signs said "Keep your hands off my iPod", and "Save the Betamax!", among others.

The reporters (and, apparently the rest of the media) were - and are - oblivious to the fact that they were being lampooned. There is no reporting any more, it seems - only a pack of dogs who are out to find 'hot-button' issues. How contemptable.

[debmartin]

in my opinion this was more of a custody case than a right to life or right to die case. hopefully what will come of this besides the living will is grown, married adults making custody decisions about themselves in case of any future incapacitation! i was sickened to read that the husband banned the family from the room, was he afraid they would run over and pour some food down her throat? i was further sickened to read that the husband's attorney touched her cheek before she died and proclaimed her to be "not suffering" and "dying peacefully". he is not a doctor and besides any moron would know that without a morphine drip she would be feeling all the effects of slowly starving to death. even a stray dog or cat at the pound receives an injection for destruction, an injured animal is "put out of their misery" but this lady was starved to death, slowly and in AMERICA. adding insult to injury, her burial plans were made without including her family whatsoever, and i also read the husband refused to disclose the location of her buried ashes and the family will have no grave to visit. so to me this case was all about custody, or really denying custody to the rightful ones (her parents) as well about power and control desired by the husband in his quest for financial gain.

after she died, i read the husband wanted to be alone to "cradle her" in his arms, despite the fact he apparently has had a girlfriend to cradle in his arms for many years now, along with children. all judges who turned a blind eye to this fact should be taken to task. if michael schiavo wanted to marry someone else, he should have divorced his wife like everyone else has to. seems to me he really had his eye on the money from the lawsuit, and pulled a fast one on the legal system by insisting he was acting on terry's behalf and in her best interest. i will not argue the fundamentals of whether this woman should have been kept alive as a vegatable, from a moral standpoint. the fact is, for whatever reason she was placed on that feeding tube and taking it away killed her, period. i also understand that florida law allowed this, and that in texas this would not have happened.

yes, this is a hotly debated topic, but whether or not you agree with extreme measures to extend life, whatever position you embrace concerning what constitutes the quality of life, if you do not agree that this lady suffered a terrible death you are fooling yourself and must face that fact.

deb martin