From the archives: Terri Schiavo's family ends legal fight, prepares for death

This story was originally published in Newsday on March 28, 2005

The parents of Terri Schiavo appeared to be moving yesterday toward resigned acceptance that their daughter would die, urging protesters to lift their vigil for Easter Sunday as a family lawyer indicated that legal efforts seemed hopeless and the brain-damaged woman might be unable to recover.

"She is very calm now," said Msgr. Thaddeus Malanowski, a priest who administered Catholic Rites For Dying and Communion to Schiavo in the afternoon, after emerging from the hospice where she is being cared for. "She is very weak. To me, death is imminent. She will probably go into a coma in the next few days, I think." He said her eyes were open, but her breathing was labored.

Earlier, David Gibbs, the attorney for parents Bob and Mary Schindler, said on "Face the Nation" that the medical prognosis was grim for Schiavo, 41, whose feeding tube was removed on March 18. Gibbs said Schiavo "has passed the point of no return."

But Christian activists who have been helping the Schindlers disputed that assessment and pledged to continue to push for action by Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Congress. "She is still conscious, she is still communicating; she is still responding," said Randall Terry, who has served as a family spokesman.

Schiavo, 41, became incapacitated 15 years ago, leading to what a preponderance of doctors have diagnosed as a persistent vegetative state. After years of legal battles pitting her parents against her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, who says his wife did not want artificial life support, her feeding tube was removed on March 18. Doctors said she would survive one to two weeks.

Late Saturday night, Schindler family advisers urged protesters outside the hospice to go home for Easter. "Be with your children," said Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk. "Hold them close and cherish every moment you have with them." Despite the advice, several dozen protesters remained outside yesterday, holding crucifixes, singing and praying as Schiavo passed her ninth day without food or water. Four Schiavo supporters were arrested in acts of civil disobedience yesterday morning after police blocked ministers from entering the hospice to bring Schiavo Easter Communion, a Christian ritual.

After that, relatives of Schiavo appeared to calm things down. "We are not going to solve the problem today by getting arrested," said Bobby Schindler, Schiavo's brother. "We can change laws, but we are not going to change them today. ... You are not speaking for our family."

Some supporters joining the vigil acknowledged they weren't hopeful about Schiavo. "Even if they start treating her, she's going to die," said Steve Livaudais, 44, who was there with his wife and three children. "I don't think anyone here is thinking she can live, but they are here for the parents and to voice displeasure at the process."

Schiavo's current condition, like other aspects of the case, was a subject of dispute. George Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer, said late Saturday she was "resting comfortably." But Gibbs said she was in growing distress and receiving morphine, and he also sounded a note of resignation on the legal front.

During the past week, after Congress passed a controversial law purporting to give federal courts jurisdiction, Schiavo's parents and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush sought intervention by both state and federal courts in a flurry of legal filings. But Saturday night, the Florida Supreme Court rebuffed the Schindlers' latest emergency state-court petition, and family lawyers said they would not pursue further appeals of their failed legal bids in federal court.

"At this point it appears that time has finally run out," Gibbs told the St. Petersburg Times.

Pending is a state-court appeal by Bush of his latest effort to get Pinellas County Probate Judge George Greer to revoke his order approving removal of the feeding tube, based on new medical opinions about Schiavo's condition. Despite pressure from Schiavo supporters, Bush made it clear yesterday he would not defy the courts and intervene.

Riley reported from New York and Metz from Florida.