Feud Rages After Terri's Death
The seething feud between Terri Schiavo's parents and husband raged on even after her death, as both families planned separate funerals for the woman whose final months riveted the nation and reached all the way to the halls of Congress and the White House.
Schiavo, 41, died Thursday, nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was removed by a judge's order. Michael Schiavo says his wife told him long ago that she would not want to be kept alive artificially. Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, disputed that, and held out hope for a miracle recovery for the brain-damaged daughter they said still struggled to talk.
The disagreement over Terri Schiavo's medical condition for the last 15 years will be settled by yet another outsider. A medical examiner is conducting an autopsy that could help determine what Schiavo's state of consciousness was and whether she was abused by her husband, as the Schindlers allege. Those results are expected in a few weeks.
The matter of burying Schiavo, though, is something the two sides have had to settle themselves. The Schindlers, who are devout Catholics, wanted their daughter's remains buried in Florida, where they live. Michael Schiavo, however, has custody of the body and plans to have his wife cremated.
Schiavo's ashes will be buried in an undisclosed location near Philadelphia so that her immediate family does not attend and turn the moment into a media spectacle, said Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother. A funeral Mass, a concession to the Schindlers, was tentatively scheduled for Tuesday or Wednesday.
"After these recent years of neglect at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and care for her, she is finally at peace with God for eternity," said her sister, Suzanne Vitadamo.
George Felos, Michael Schiavo's attorney described the scene at her death on CBS News' Early Show.
"Michael was at the head of her bed. His arms were cradling her head. Terri was taking her last breaths. I was there. His brother was there. There were at least four hospice workers around Terri, touching her, stroking her. It was an atmosphere of peace and calm and Terri left this world in a very gentle way," Felos said.
The ill will between husband and in-laws didn't abate even during Schiavo's final moments. The Schindlers' advisers complained that Schiavo's brother and sister had been at her bedside a few minutes before the end came, but were not there at the moment of her death because Michael Schiavo would not let them in the room.
"The brother had some sort of altercation or dispute with a law enforcement officer and Michael, who hadn't had sleep for days, just made the decision no. I don't want police officers in the room. I don't want acrimony. This death is for Terri. She's the one who has the right to die with dignity and that's why at that last moment Michael said they had to leave," Felos told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen .
"And so his heartless cruelty continues until this very last moment," the Rev. Frank Pavone, a Roman Catholic priest and one of the Schindlers' spiritual advisers. He called Schiavo's death a "killing."
On Thursday night, Bob Schindler thanked supporters during a 90-minute memorial service that drew more than 200 people to a nearby church.
"You got us through a really tough time," he said. "We're so appreciative of it. We'll never forget you all. Thank you so, so much. And Terri thanks you, too."
The death brought to a close what was easily the longest, most bitter — and most heavily litigated — right-to-die dispute in U.S. history.
Schiavo suffered brain damage in 1990 after a chemical imbalance caused her heart to stop. She had left no written instructions in the event she became disabled.
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.
In Washington on Thursday, the President Bush was careful to extend condolences to Schiavo's "families" — meaning both Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers — even though he backed efforts to reconnect her feeding tube. He urged the creation of "a culture of life where all Americans are welcomed and valued and protected."
House Republican Leader Tom DeLay condemned the state and federal judges who refused to prolong her life, and he warned that lawmakers "will look at an arrogant and out-of-control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president."
"I never thought I'd see the day when a U.S. judge stopped feeding a living American so that they took 14 days to die," he said.
Gov. Bush, the president's brother, said Schiavo's death "is a window through which we can see the many issues left unresolved in our families and in our society. For that, we can be thankful for all that the life of Terri Schiavo has taught us."
Outside the hospice — where over the past few weeks more than 50 protesters were arrested, many for trying to symbolically bring Schiavo food and water — demonstrators wept, prayed and sang hymns. Some threw their protest signs down in disgust.
Before she was stricken, Terri Schiavo had recurring battles with weight, and her collapse at age 26 was believed to have been caused by an eating disorder. Her parents, who visited her nearly every day, reported their daughter responded to their voices, and video showed her appearing to interact with her family. 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.