Schiavo's parents give up

2005-03-27 21:10

Pinellas Park, Florida - Abandoning a legal battle to keep brain-damaged Terri Schiavo alive, relatives withdrew from public view on Easter Sunday, and urged activists outside a hospice where the woman lay dying to do the same.

Schiavo languished for a ninth day Sunday without food or water following a court-ordered removal of the feeding tube that had kept her alive for the past 15 years.

After a week of extraordinary intervention by US President George W Bush, the US congress and a spate of rejections by state and federal courts, the family finally conceded they were out of options.

"I'm not saying we wouldn't be open to any idea that comes up. But at this point, it appears that time has finally run out," said attorney David Gibbs, who represents Schiavo's parents Bob and Mary Schindler, speaking to the St Petersburg (Florida) Times newspaper.

He made his remarks after the Schindlers lost their most recent emergency petition to the Florida Supreme Court, although two appeals in support of their cause remain pending in state courts.

Schiavo's brother Bobby Schindler, who has actively lobbied lawmakers and other officials over the past several years on his sister's behalf, also appeared to concede that the fight to keep her alive was over.

Vigil

"I'm going to concentrate now on my mom and my family," he said, thanking supporters who had gathered to pray, protest and hold vigils outside the hospice where Schiavo's feeding tube was removed on March 18.

"We appreciate what everybody has done, it really lifted us up," he said.

Bush, who signed legislation last week to send the Schiavo case to federal court said he did so in support of a "culture of life," was silent on the case as he exited Easter services at a military base on Sunday.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the family, Brother Paul O'Donnell, said Schiavo's life was quickly ebbing saying the Florida woman "is really showing signs of starvation and dehydration," O'Donnell said.

Schiavo, 41, has been in what doctors call a persistent vegetative state for 15 years since suffering severe brain damage during a cardiac arrest in 1990.

Her husband Michael Schiavo has fought for years to have her feeding tube removed, saying she would not want to be kept alive artificially and should be allowed to die.

The battle has raged through the state court and legislature, but escalated after the US Congress stepped in last weekend and passed an unprecedented bill, signed by Bush, allowing the case to be heard in federal court.

Court defeats

Since then, the family has suffered a string of court defeats including on Saturday, when a state judge rejected the family's argument that Schiavo had tried to say "I want to live" before her feeding tube was removed.

Judge George Greer, who has consistently ruled in favour of the husband, found that any sound she made was a reflex and not a conscious act, based on medical evaluations of her condition presented in court.

The Florida Supreme Court rejected the family's appeal of the decision late Saturday.

Bob Schindler, Schiavo's father, went into the crowd late on Saturday shaking hands and thanking people. Some handed him roses.

"I'll stay here to pray for her, to see if there's a miracle. We have to pray for Terri's soul," said Jose Lopez, a Cuba-born resident of nearby Tampa.

Her parents say Schiavo could die soon, that her breathing is growing shallow and she is no longer making sounds. But her husband's attorney said death could be five to six days away.

"In all the years I've seen Mrs Schiavo I've never seen such a look of peace and beauty on her," George Felos said on Saturday.

Try to cope

He said he understood the parents' efforts "but I would hope that at some point before Terri's death they would leave that behind and begin to try to cope with this more on a personal level."

His assessment of Schiavo's condition drew angry responses from her brother.

"It isn't painless, it isn't peaceful," Bobby Schindler insisted on CNN.

Asked what comfort measures the hospice was offering his sister, he said the family didn't know.

"We're not allowed any access to any medical information," he said. "I do know this, if a family member tries to put any ice chips on her lips, or tries to do anything of that nature, we'll be arrested immediately."

- AFP