Schiavo's death mourned, said to raise questions for society

Published: 2005-03-31

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The plight of Terri Schiavo, who died March 31 nearly two weeks after her feeding tube was disconnected, raised critical questions for society, according to Baltimore Cardinal William H. Keeler, chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on Pro-Life Activities. Schiavo, 41, had been in what doctors defined as a persistent vegetative state since 1990, when her brain was deprived of oxygen after her heart stopped. Doctors appointed by the courts had said she had no real consciousness or chance of recovery. However, her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, fought with her husband, Michael Schiavo, for seven years over the right to make medical decisions for her. They tried unsuccessfully to persuade state and federal courts at all levels that they should have the right to care for her, and, later, that her feeding tube should be reinserted. Their last appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was rejected without comment hours before she died at a hospice in Pinellas Park, Fla.

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