Husband orders autopsy

2005-03-29 16:46

WWashington - The husband of a brain-damaged Florida woman who has been fighting his father- and mother-in-law for years in US courts to allow his wife to die has ordered an autopsy upon her death, his attorney said on Monday.

"It's important to let the public know the extent of her brain damage," George Felos told the media in Florida in a case that has become so volatile that the lawyer, his client and presiding judge have received death threats.

Doctors said Terri Schiavo, 41, who is in a persistent vegetative state, won't live past this week after courts ordered, on Michael Schiavo's request, that the feeding tube that had kept her alive for 15 years be removed on March 18.

Michael Schiavo, who is also his wife's legal guardian, has argued successfully in court that Terri Schiavo told him before her medical crisis that she would not have wanted to live in such a condition.

On Monday, the 10th day his daughter has gone without food or water, Robert Schindler said outside her hospice in Pinellas Park Florida, "She's fighting like hell to live, and she's begging for help."

Felos, however, painted a very different picture of Terri Schiavo's condition, saying he visited her on Monday and found her to be "very calm, very relaxed, very peaceful".

Her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, contend she is not in a persistent vegetative state and responds to their visits by moaning, looking at them and making facial expressions.

"She's still communicating, she's still responding," Robert Schindler said. "She's emaciated, but she's still responding."

Concentration camp survivor

He likened her appearance to a concentration camp survivor.

Doctors have said what the Schindlers describe as Terri Schiavo's reactions to their visits are involuntary, given the extensive brain damage she suffered in 1990 after heart failure, possibly linked to an eating disorder, cut off oxygen to her brain.

Earlier, the Schindlers' spiritual adviser said the couple have accepted the fact that their daughter is dying.

"They're dealing with reality," Brother Paul O'Donnell said on the NBC television network's "Today" show. "They know their daughter is dying. They know what's about to happen."

However, Robert Schindler remained determined Monday, saying his daughter "has amazing endurance" and could still be saved.

"I plead again for the powers to be not to give up on her," he said. "She hasn't given up, and she's hasn't given up on us."

The plea went out to Florida Governor Jeb Bush, brother of President George W Bush, whom the Schindlers want to intervene, take custody of their daughter and reinsert the feeding tube.

But Governor Bush said Monday that he has to respect the court rulings in the case. "My heart is broken about this." - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA