Legal battle abandoned as Schiavo nears death

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.

"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," David Gibbs, an attorney for Ms Schiavo's parents said.

The tube feeding that has sustained Ms Schiavo for 15 years was halted on March 18 under a state court order, setting off a flurry of efforts to get feeding restored by her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler. The effort brought in the US Congress, US President George W Bush and his brother, Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

But a string of judicial rebuffs, including from the US Supreme Court, effectively ended the Schindlers' seven-year legal dispute with Ms Schiavo's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, over whether she should live or die.

A failed appeal earlier on Saturday to the Florida Supreme Court probably was the last significant legal opportunity to extend her life, Mr Gibbs said.

A state court first ruled in 2000 that Ms Schiavo should be allowed to die. It declared that she was in a "persistent vegetative state" since suffering a heart attack that deprived her brain of oxygen in 1990 and sided with her husband in ruling that she would not have wanted to live in that condition.

Mr Gibbs said all remaining hope will be in the hands of God. "We always hold hope that somehow God could touch Terri to make her start talking so she could sit up and say, 'Give me some food'," he said.

Bob Schindler urged supporters to continue their vigil outside the hospice caring for their daughter, after earlier telling them they should go home and celebrate Easter Sunday with their families.

Bob Schindler said in a statement issued by a family spokesman, Gary McCullough. "We want people to continue to be here with Terri, and with us."

The Schindlers, practising Roman Catholics, have attracted passionate support from conservative Christians, right-to-life and anti-abortion activists. A few dozen people have kept a constant vigil in front of the hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, in recent days. The crowd swelled to several hundred on Saturday.

Michael Schiavo and the parents were alternating time at Ms Schiavo's bedside having long ago stopped speaking to each other in a bitter family feud that escalated into a highly-politicised dispute.

A Time Magazine poll released yesterday found a majority of Americans surveyed who called themselves born again Christians or evangelicals agreed with the decision to remove Schiavo's feeding tube.