said through a spokesperson, after they lost a battle to keep her alive on a feeding tube here on earth. She passed away just days after receiving her last rites, including Easter communion with a drop of wine, symbolizing the "blood of Jesus Christ" who Christians believe died at the cross but rose on the third day, an event celebrated at Easter.
Her brother, sister and brother-in-law looked on as Reverend Thaddeus Malanowski held Terri’s right hand while he and hospice priest Reverend Joseph Braun placed the droplet on her tongue Easter Sunday, The Associated Press (AP) news agency reported. Malanowski also "anointed" her with oil, offered a blessing and prayed for forgiveness of her sins, reports said.
"She received the blood of Christ," AP quoted Malanowski as saying, adding he could not give her a fleck of communion bread "because her tongue was too dry."
COMMUNION ALLOWED
By previous court order, Terri Schiavo was allowed to receive communion once more with the consent of her husband and guardian, Michael Schiavo, who has fought her parents for years about whether the woman would want to live or die. Terri received both sacraments on March 18, just before the tube was pulled.
On Thursday, March 31, her parents gathered again to pray at the bedside of their dying daughter, just minutes before she passed away, said Brother Paul O’Donnell, a spokesman for Bob and Mary Schindler. David Gibbs, a lawyer representing the Schindlers, said his clients were "with Terri up until 10 minutes before she passed", AP reported.
The death of the 41-year old woman was expected to intensify a debate among Christians, with some saying her death amounted to "murder" while others seemed to respect the courts decision.
DEATH "KILLING"
"This is not only a death with all the sadness that brings, this is a killing," AP qouted Reverend Frank Pavone as saying. Pavone, who was with the Schindlers during their final visit, said that they "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."
Wednesday, March 30, the Schindlers lost what their lawyer described as their "last meaningful legal appeal" in their desperate battle to have their brain-damaged daughter’s feeding tube reinserted. The United States Supreme Court late Wednesday, March 30, refused once again to hear an emergency appeal from the Schindlers.
The Executive Director of the 17,000-member Christian Medical Association (CMA), Doctor David Stevens, said earlier her death would be "murder" as she was not in "a persistent vegetative state" as her husband had suggested.
"In a murder mystery, the case often turns on a small piece of evidence initially overlooked," explained Stevens, who holds a masters degree in ethics. "Experts viewing the videos of Terri Schiavo have focused on signs such as her recognizing her family. It is easy to actually overlook the most important evidence: Terri Schiavo is not drooling. She is able to swallow her own secretions. And that is a crucial distinction with immense ethical implications."
STARVING TO DEATH
In a statement monitored by BosNewsLife News Center, Stevens stressed that not giving her food would be the same as "refusing to feed a totally dependent three-year-old or chaining up a dog and starving it to death."
"Feeding tubes are put in patients for many reasons, but in patients like Terri, they are often put in solely for the sake of convenience. That’s because giving fluids and food a spoonful at a time in a patient like Terri could take up to an hour or two, whereas a bag of liquid food and fluids can be hung and gets the job done automatically," he said. "That means that prohibiting her family and nursing staff from trying to feed her, which Terri Schiavo’s husband and the courts have prohibited, amounts to murder."
The doctor added that "many people remain deeply disturbed by the Terri Schiavo case because they know something isn’t right; yet they have had difficulty articulating why. Simply put, the intent of those involved in removing her tube [was] not to remove a burdensome therapy, it [was] to remove a burdensome patient.’”
VIEW SHARED
That view was shared by Schiavo’s parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, who maintained their daughter was responding to them. Michael Schiavo denied this and said his wife told him that she would not want to be kept alive "artificially."
Some Christians stressed however that the fight for Terri Schiavo’s life does not mean believers should always postpone an earthly death. "Christians should remember that our physical experience is not our ultimate experience," said another CMA official, Doctor Gene Rudd. "For the Christian, to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord. Physical death need not be resisted at all costs," he added.
Rudd suggested that Schiavo’s case has underscored a need that an incapacitated person’s wishes would be known and well documented so difficult medical decisions could be made more easily.
NO NOTE
Because Terri Schiavo did not leave written wishes on her care, Florida law gave preference to Michael Schiavo over her parents. "What a great blessing it would be for a family to have that, rather than to have to go through the dilemma the Schiavo’s have had," Rudd said.
"When the dying process is inevitable — when there’s no cure, no hope for cure — we don’t have to try to ask for futile care or things that are not going to be helpful. What we should be asking for then is comfort care, respect, dignity."
Rudd stressed filling out an advance directive to lay out one’s wishes is exercising wisdom, compassion, and good stewardship. Since Christians "have an eternal perspective and hope," he added, "they need not desperately hang on to every second of a life that is ending naturally, because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord."
DEVASTATING NEWS
Yet Terri Schiavo’s death came still as devastating news for pro-life critics, who claimed her husband was more interested in her insurance money than keeping her alive, as he already fathers two children with another woman. In recent days protestors, could be seen at Michael Schiavo’s Clearwater home, while others prayed for a re-insertion of the feeding tube in front of the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida.
Before news emerged of her death, Florida governor Jeb Bush, a Christian, defended his decision not to intervene saying he had done all what was humanly possible. "I cannot violate a court order," he told the Cable News Network (CNN). "I don’t have powers from the United States Constitution or, for that matter, from the Florida Constitution, that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made."
Schiavo’s brother, Bobby Schindler, seemed to agree. "We are not going to solve the problem today by getting arrested," he told the restless crowd. "We can change laws, but we are not going to change them today…"
MEMORIES REMAIN
The memories remain. Described by her family as a shy woman who loved animals, music and basketball, Terri Schindler grew up in Pennsylvania and battled a weight problem in her youth."And then when she lost all the weight, she really became quite beautiful on the outside as well. What was inside she allowed to shine out at that point," a friend, Diane Meyer, reportedly said in 2003.
She met Michael Schiavo, at Bucks County Community College near Philadelphia in 1982. They wed two years later and moved to Florida where she worked in an insurance agency. She was known for her big smile, according to video pictures shown to millions of people around the world.
But recurring battles with weight led to the eating disorder that was blamed for her collapse at age 26. Doctors reported she suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped beating because of a chemical imbalance. Her brain was reportedly deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes before she was revived.
While Terri Schiavo is no longer with them, her parents now believe she is in a better place, lawyer Gibbs said. "Their faith in God remains consistent and strong. They are absolutely convinced God loves Terri more than they do." (With BosNewsLife News Center, reports from the United States and BosNewsLife Research)
