Fight for Terri Schiavo's life is over.

Clearwater, FL -- A doctor nominated for the Nobel prize said that he believed medical therapies were still available that could help Terri Schiavo partly recover from her disabled state (see CI, April 2005, p. 31 and previous issues for background). Dr. William Hammersfahr, who had examined Terri, her medical records and her X-rays, has treated other patients like her with great success and saw no reason why she could not regain independence and dignity. He maintained that it was not too late to start with therapy, even though her husband had refused all medical treatment for her for a number of years and sought to have her feeding tube removed so that she would die.

Meanwhile, a wealthy California businessman, Robert Herring, Sr., offered to pay Terri's estranged husband, Michael, $1 million to not starve her to death and to transfer legal guardianship to her family.

The World Federation of Catholic Medical Associations issued a warning that, "if Terri Schiavo can be condemned to death, every person whose life is considered of insufficient quality by a guardian or court could face euthanasia." President Gian Gigli said that "the real core of the problem is the attempt to decide about the right to life of a human being, not on the basis of her/his dignity, but on an external evaluation of the quality of life." He appealed to U.S. bishops "to mobilize every resource and influence of the Catholic Church to counteract this impending tragedy" (from Zenit and Lifesitenews files).

Legal wrangling over Terri's fate continued throughout the month of March. Despite an extraordinary effort by Republicans in the U.S. Congress to preserve her life by ordering her to appear before the Senate Health Committee, doctors at the Pinellas Park hospice where she lived disconnected her feeding tube on March 1 in conformity with a judge's order on behalf of her husband.

U.S. legislators made a further attempt to save Terri's life over the Palm Sunday weekend (19-20 March, 2005). In an unprecedented move, members of the House of Representatives interrupted their Easter break and rushed back to Washington to pass a bill sending the case back to federal court; the feeding tube would be re-inserted during this process. The bill was okayed by the Senate and signed in the pre-dawn hour by President George W. Bush who flew in specially from his Texas ranch. Bush later told supporters, "In extraordinary circumstances like this, it is wise to always err on the side of life."

The Congress decision was characterized by leftwing media in both U.S. and Canada as a political move which displays the power of the "religious right"; supposedly, it was a move to bolster the dominance of the Republican majority. Some Democrats have charged that the bill, in by-passing Florida court decisions, undermined the authority of individual states.

On Monday, March 21, the case was reviewed by federal judge, James Whittemore, who eventually issued the decision to deny Terri's parents' request to restore food and water to her. The parents then launched an appeal to a higher court in Atlanta, GA. A further plea was made to legislators in the Florida Senate.

Meantime, Terri was fading steadily. Pro-life supporters continued to keep their vigil outside the hospice, praying as they waited. The legal decision that ultimately caused Terri's death has been condemned by Catholic authorities, including Bishop Elio Sgreccia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life in Rome. Insisting that she would suffer a "cruel death," he said, "It is an illicit and grave act."

Terri Schiavo died in the morning of March 31, 2005. During the last few weeks of her plight she attracted massive coverage in the media--TV, newspapers, radio--on a continent-wide basis.