The lawyer for Terri Schiavo’s husband says he’s confident the long-awaited autopsy report on the brain-damaged woman will show no evidence she was abused before she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state.

Terri Schiavo’s body was cremated yesterday as disagreements continued between her husband and her parents, who were unable to have their own independent expert observe her autopsy.

PROTESTERS were gone yesterday from the hospice where Terri Schiavo died, but the feud between her parents and husband raged, with the families planning separate funerals.

TERRI SCHIAVO, the severely brain-damaged Florida woman who spent 15 years connected to a feeding tube in an epic legal and medical battle that went all the way to the White House and Congress, died yesterday.

FOR those multitudes who never knew her, it was easy to forget that Terri Schiavo was a real woman who led a real life. But for her friends and family, it was impossible to forget.

Terri Schiavo has died in Florida.

A US federal appeals court raised a flicker of hope for the parents of brain dead Terri Schiavo, but snuffed it out by firmly declining to intervene in the gruelling legal battle.

A FEDERAL appeals court agreed to consider an emergency bid by Terri Schiavo’s parents for a new hearing on whether to reconnect her feeding tube, raising their fading hopes of keeping the severely brain-damaged woman alive.

THE husband of brain-damaged Florida woman Terri Schiavo has ordered an autopsy after she dies to silence allegations his plan to cremate her body is aimed at hiding something, his lawyer said yesterday.

An autopsy will be performed after Terri Schiavo dies to show the extent of her brain damage, her husband’s lawyer said.

TERRI SCHIAVO'S parents know their brain-damaged daughter is dying and are "dealing with reality", a family spokesman said yesterday, even as their supporters pledged to take their fight to Washington.

Their hopes fading and legal options exhausted, Terri Schiavo’s parents appeared quietly resigned to watching her die, but could claim one Easter victory: The severely brain-damaged woman received a drop of communion wine on her tongue – her only sustenance in nine days – after her husband allowed her to receive the sacrament.

A WRENCHING dispute over the fate of Terri Schiavo neared its end yesterday as the brain-damaged Florida woman moved closer to death and her parents gave up their long and bitter legal battle to prolong her life.

Terri Schiavo’s parents asked supporters to return home to spend Easter Sunday with their families as the couple’s severely brain-damaged daughter went a ninth day without food or water.

As Terri Schiavo drew closer to death Saturday, a Florida state judge rejected another attempt by the brain-damaged woman’s parents to reconnect her feeding tube, leaving the couple with little hope they could keep her alive.

A US government appeals court panel refused to order the reinsertion of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, hours after her father said she was weakening and down “to her last hours”.

AS Terri Schiavo’s health waned, a judge yesterday refused to order the reinsertion of her feeding tube, thwarting another legal move from the brain-damaged woman’s parents.

A judge today refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, yet another setback for the parents of the brain-damaged woman in their battle against her husband to keep her alive.

As Terri Schiavo’s health waned, her parents pressed on today to restore the brain-damaged woman’s feeding tube after the nation’s highest court and judges in Florida defeated their latest legal appeals.

The US Supreme Court refused to order Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube reinserted today, rejecting a desperate appeal by her parents to keep their severely brain-damaged daughter alive.

Terri Schiavo’s parents made a desperate appeal to the US Supreme Court early today, asking justices to order resumption of nourishment for their severely brain-damaged daughter.

FOR the second time in less than a day, a federal appeals court yesterday rejected a bid by Terri Schiavo’s parents to have her feeding tube re-inserted.

Their options dwindling after losing two consecutive court appeals, Terri Schiavo’s parents vowed today to take their fight to the US Supreme Court as their brain-damaged daughter was in her fifth full day without a feeding tube.

A US federal appeals court in Atlanta today refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, denying an emergency request by the severely brain-damaged woman’s parents.

A lawyer for the husband of Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman at the centre of a life-or-death legal battle, says he expects a court ruling today.

A US federal judge yesterday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube, denying an emergency request from the brain-damaged woman’s parents.

The parents of a brain-damaged woman tonight filed an 11th-hour appeal against a US judge’s decision to let her die.

A US judge has reserved his decision on the fate of a brain-damaged woman at the centre of an extraordinary political battle.

A US federal judge weighed the fate of a brain-damaged Florida woman yesterday, acting hours after the US Congress and President George W Bush intervened to push the highly charged right-to-die case back into court.

The parents of Terri Schiavo asked a judge to reinsert their brain-damaged daughter’s feeding tube today, following an extraordinary political fight that consumed both chambers of Congress and prompted the US president to rush back to the White House.

While Terri Schiavo lay dying in her hospice bed early today, the US Congress gave a boost to the hopes of the brain-damaged woman’s parents that her feeding tube would be reinserted.

THE US Congress yesterday put off action on a bill aimed at prolonging the life of a brain-damaged woman who had her feeding tube removed by court order.

US doctors last night removed Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube despite an extraordinary, last-minute push by Republicans on Capitol Hill to keep the brain-damaged woman alive.

A BUSINESSMAN has offered one million dollars to keep alive a brain-damaged Florida woman at the centre of a court battle.

A BUSINESSMAN has offered one million dollars to keep alive a brain-damaged Florida woman who is at the centre of a life or death court battle.

A Florida judge has extended an order keeping brain-damaged Terri Schiavo’s alive, saying he needed time to decide whether her parents should be allowed to pursue further efforts to keep her husband from removing her life support.

The US Supreme Court refused today to reinstate a Florida law passed to keep a severely brain-damaged woman hooked to a feeding tube, clearing the way for it to be removed.

THE Florida Supreme Court yesterday struck down a law that was rushed through the legislature last fall to keep a severely brain-damaged woman hooked up to a feeding tube against her husband’s wishes.

THE husband of a brain-damaged American woman at the centre of a bitter right-to-life battle plans to argue in court next week that Governor Jeb Bush’s order that led to her feeding tube being reinserted is unconstitutional.

A HOSPITAL has begun giving fluids to a brain-damaged woman, six days after her feeding tube was removed in one of America’s longest and most bitter right-to-die battles.