Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged woman whose condition sparked an epic legal, medical and political battle that has gripped the United States, died on Thursday, 13 days after her feeding tube was removed by the wishes of her husband and the orders of several courts.
News of her death prompted wailing and praying from supporters of her parents, who wanted to keep her alive, as both the US President, George Bush, and the Vatican expressed their concern at the circumstances of Schiavo’s death.
”Today, millions of Americans are saddened by the death of Terri Schiavo,” said Bush. ”The essence of civilisation is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak. In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in favour of life.”
The head of the Vatican’s office for sainthood condemned her death as ”an attack against God”. Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins described Schiavo’s death as ”an unjust death sentence to an innocent in one of the most inhuman and cruel forms”.
Florida’s Governor, Jeb Bush, delivered stern criticism of the legal rulings in favour of her husband.
Governor Bush, the president’s brother, said millions of people will be ”deeply grieved” by her death.
”After an extraordinarily difficult and tragic journey, Terri Schiavo is at rest,” he said. ”I remain convinced, however, that Terri’s death is a window through which we can see the many issues unresolved in our families and in our society.”
Schiavo’s lawyer announced the death but otherwise made no comment.
The bitterness that has elevated the battle over Schiavo’s case from a family row to a national drama continued right until the end. Her brother and sister were ordered to leave her Florida hospice room 10 minutes before she died to allow Michael Schiavo, her husband and legal guardian, to be with her.
The personal and political controversy is set to continue with a family feud deepening over whether she should be buried or cremated, and politicians in both main parties are set to use the case as a benchmark in confirmation hearings over key, impending judicial appointments.
Many among the hundreds of Christian activists and right-to-life supporters, who had maintained a mostly peaceful vigil outside the hospice, were in tears and prayed as David Gibbs, her parents’ lawyer, and Father Frank Pavone, a family friend, announced that Schiavo (41) had died at 9.05am local time.
”This is not only a death with all the sadness that brings, it is a killing and for that we grieve,” Pavone said. ”We grieve not only that Terri has passed away, but we grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this and we hope this will never happen again.”
After the announcement, a bugler played Amazing Grace and protesters began laying flowers at the driveway leading to the Woodside hospice, Pinellas Park. Dozens of armed police maintained a tight ring of security around the hospice as demonstrators continued to parade banners protesting at her death on her 13th day without food or water.
More than 50 arrests have been made, mostly for trespassing, since Schiavo’s feeding tube was removed.
Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance that was believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors ruled that she was in a persistent vegetative state, with no real consciousness or chance of recovery.
Schiavo had left no living will but her husband and legal guardian, Michael, claims she had told him she would not want to live on in such a condition. Schiavo’s parents, Mary and Robert Schindler, disputed that, arguing that as a Catholic she would have wanted to live and that better treatment was possible.
The rift between them grew after a medical malpractice payout ignited a dispute over money.
During the seven-year legal battle, Florida lawmakers, Congress and the president tried to intervene on behalf of her parents, but state and federal courts at all levels repeatedly ruled in favour of her husband.
The feeding tube was removed with a judge’s approval on March 18, triggering a final desperate round of legal and political challenges as Christian conservatives sought to exert their influence in Congress.
In a dramatic flurry of legislative activity, the Republican Congress passed a measure that would empower a US judge to order the reinsertion of the feeding tube. President Bush rushed back to Washington DC from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, to sign it into law.
Shortly afterwards, Michael Schiavo criticised Congress, arguing: ”It is a sad day for everyone in this country because the US government is going to come in and trample all over your personal family matters.”
Overplayed
Polls suggest most Americans agreed with him, suggesting that both Bush and the Republican congress may have overplayed their hand.
Surveys reveal that while the issue has divided the country, the split has not been even or predictable, with most of the public, including Christian conservatives, opposed to the involvement of both Bush and Congress. Meanwhile, civil rights leader Jesse Jackson earlier this week entered the fray to voice his support for the Schindler family.
An ABC news poll taken on the day that Congress passed a measure that would empower a US judge to order the reinsertion of the feeding tube found that 63% of the public supported removing it against 28% against.
The poll also found that the public opposed congressional involvement in the case by a huge 70% to 27%.
The vote was carried with a significant amount of support from Democrats. Nonetheless, most Americans doubted the political motives of the Republican-controlled Congress, with 67% believing that it had focused on the Schiavo case for partisan political advantage.
However, polls show that opposition to the congressional measure and support for removing the tube has had bipartisan support. The ABC poll showed that 54% of conservatives and 61% of Republicans backed Schiavo’s widower in his decision to allow her to die.
Meanwhile, Bush’s ratings have taken a sharp plunge. A Gallup poll last week showed support had dropped from 52% to 45% in seven days. The largest fall was among men, self-described conservatives and churchgoers, who form the core of Bush’s electoral base.
A spokesperson for Gallup argued that ”the timing of the seven-point drop suggests that the controversy over the Terri Schiavo case may be a major cause”.
”Public reaction to Congress’s intervention in the Schiavo case may well test whether [Christian conservatives] have enough standing to run against public opinion on end-of-life issues,” argued Andrew Kohut, the president of the Pew Research Centre, an independent polling organisation, in a recent New York Times article.
He added: ”Potentially arrayed against conservatives are elderly people, who vote heavily, as well as baby boomers, who always have numbers on their side. These voters, increasingly concerned about these issues in their own lives, may well be wary of political constraints on the tough choices they or their families may face.” — Guardian Unlimited Â