| Subject: Attorney: Terri Schiavo to Have Autopsy |
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Chris
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Date Posted: 03/29/05 7:52am
Attorney: Terri Schiavo to Have Autopsy
By RON WORD, Associated Press Writer
PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - An autopsy will be performed after Terri Schiavo dies to show the extent of her brain damage, her husband's attorney says.
AP Photo
AFP
Slideshow: Terri Schiavo Case
On Monday, Schiavo's 11th day without food or water, supporters of prolonging the woman's life carried their protests to the White House, while the husband's attorney said she looked "peaceful" and had a stuffed toy cat under her arm.
George Felos, the attorney for husband and guardian Michael Schiavo, said Monday that the chief medical examiner for Pinellas County, Dr. John Thogmartin, had agreed to perform an autopsy.
He said her husband wants definitive proof showing the extent of her brain damage. Michael Schiavo contends his wife told him years ago she would not want to be kept alive artificially under such circumstances.
An attorney for Schiavo's parents, David Gibbs III, said her family also wants an autopsy. "We would certainly support and encourage an autopsy to be done, with all the unanswered questions," Gibbs said.
Felos said he had visited Schiavo for more than an hour Monday and said she looked "very peaceful. She looked calm."
"I saw no evidence of any bodily discomfort whatsoever," Felos said, although he added her breathing seemed "a little on the rapid side" and her eyes were sunken.
Doctors said Terri Schiavo, 41, would probably die within a week or two when the tube was removed on March 18. She suffered catastrophic brain damage in 1990 when her heart stopped for several minutes because of a chemical imbalance.
The parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, pressed again for President Bush, Congress and the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, to intervene to have the feeding tube reinserted. A small group of supporters protested outside the White House gates.
At the invitation of Schiavo's family, the Rev. Jesse Jackson scheduled a visit to the hospice to pray and possibly see Schiavo herself, said Jackson spokesman Shelley Davis. Jackson last week issued a statement backing reinsertion of Schiavo's feeding tube and calling for her supportes to use "this same passion" to combat hunger and starvation worldwide.
Bob Schindler repeated his plea that she be kept alive by having her feeding tube reinserted. About 100 protesters used harsh rhetoric and some in the crowd mimicked Nazi soldiers by goose-stepping in front of police. Another eight protesters who tried to bring water into the hospice for Schiavo were arrested for trespassing, bringing the 10-day total of arrests to 46.
"She's still communicating, she's still responding. She's emaciated, but she's responsive," Schindler told reporters after a visit with his daughter, saying that she showed facial expressions when he hugged and kissed her.
As Schiavo drew closer to death, extra police officers blocked the road in front of the Florida hospice, and an elementary school next door was closed so students could avoid the crowd.
President Bush's aides have said they have run out of legal options.
At least two more appeals filed by the state seeking the feeding tube's reconnection were pending, but those challenges were before a Florida appeals court that had rejected the governor's previous efforts in the case.
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