Cradled by her husband, Schiavo, 41, died a "calm, peaceful and gentle death" at about 9 a. No one from her side of the family was with her at the moment of her death. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, were not at the hospice, Felos said. And her brother had been expelled from the room at Michael Schiavo's request moments before the end came. Schiavo's overriding concern here was to provide for Terri a peaceful death with dignity," said Felos, who was also present at the death.
But the Rev. Frank Pavone, one of the Schindlers' spiritual advisers, called her death "a killing," adding: "And for that we not only grieve that Terri has passed but we grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this and we pray that it will never happen again.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in and fell into what court-appointed doctors called a persistent vegetative state, with no real consciousness or chance of recovery, after a chemical imbalance caused her heart to stop. She had left no written instructions in the event she became disabled. Her husband argued that she told him long ago that she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents disputed that, and held out hope for a miracle recovery for a daughter they said still laughed with them and struggled to talk.
Greer sided with her husband and authorized the removal of the feeding tube keeping her alive. It was disconnected March During the seven-year legal battle, federal and state courts repeatedly rejected extraordinary attempts at intervention by Florida lawmakers, Gov.
Jeb Bush, Congress and President Bush on behalf of her parents. Supporters of her parents, many of them anti-abortion activists and political conservatives, harshly criticized the courts. Many religious groups, including the Roman Catholic Church, said the removal of sustenance violated fundamental religious tenets. About 40 judges in six courts were involved in the case at one point or another.
