The Talk Show American

THE TALK SHOW AMERICAN: 03/27/2005 - 04/03/2005

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Terri Schiavo Cremated

Terri Schiavo Cremated; Parents Unable to Have Own Independent Expert Observe Her Autopsy

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

The cremation was carried out according to a court order issued Tuesday establishing that Michael Schiavo had the right to make such decisions, said his lawyer, George Felos. He said plans for burying her ashes in Pennsylvania, where she grew up, had not yet been completed.

Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, had wanted to bury their daughter in Pinellas County so they could visit her grave.

Terri Schiavo, 41, died Thursday after the removal of the feeding tube that had kept her alive since 1990, when she suffered brain damage that court-appointed doctors determined had placed her in a persistent vegetative state. Her parents had fought in court to keep her alive, disputing the doctors' opinions and saying there was hope of improvement.

Michael Schiavo has not spoken publicly since his wife's death, but Felos said Saturday: "He's holding up. It's very difficult for him."

Michael Schiavo is required to tell his wife's parents of any memorial services he plans for Terri Schiavo and where her ashes are interred.

The Schindlers plan to have their own memorial service Tuesday at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church in Gulfport.

The Schindlers had sought to have independent medical experts observe their daughter's autopsy at the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's office, but the agency refused their request, family attorneys David Gibbs III and Barbara Weller said Saturday.

The autopsy was completed Friday, the day after Terri Schiavo died, and results are not expected for several weeks.

Representatives of the medical examiner's office did not return a call seeking comment Saturday. The examiner's office has said it would conduct routine examinations and look for any evidence of what might have caused her 1990 collapse.

The Schindlers have accused Michael Schiavo of abusing his wife, a charge he vehemently denies.

Over the years, the couple have sought independent investigation of their daughter's condition and what caused it. Abuse complaints to state social workers were ruled unfounded although one investigation remains open and the Pinellas state attorney's office did not turn up evidence of abuse in one brief probe of the case.

Gibbs said the medical examiner's videotape, pictures and tissue samples from the autopsy could be reviewed by other experts if the family asks. While the autopsy report will be a public document, images will not be made public under a 2001 law passed after the death of race car driver Dale Earnhardt.

Agency Had 89 Abuse Reports on Schiavo

Florida's Department of Children and Families had received nearly 90 allegations that Michael Schiavo had abused his wife in recent years - but a Florida judge ruled yesterday that DCF summaries of those allegations must remain secret.

The St. Petersburg Times and the Tampa Tribune had filed suit for the release of the abuse summaries, which covered 89 reports - the Times said Friday. But state Judge George Greer ruled Friday the records belong to DCF, and although Terri Schiavo's husband can have access to the abuse files, the records cannot be made public, The Associated Press reported.

During a hearing Thursday, just hours after Terri Schiavo died, DCF attorney Jennifer Lima-Smith asked Greer to keep its records sealed, saying, "It's time to end this case."

Just a few weeks ago, however, the agency was pressing for a full-blown abuse probe.

In the petition filed with Greer's court in early March, the DCF asked him not to remove Schiavo's feeding tube until the agency could investigate 34 pages of materials documenting allegations of abuse, the Orlando Sentinel reported at the time.

The DCF petition said the materials were sent to its abuse hotline on Feb. 18 and Feb. 21, and by law, the agency had to conduct an investigation.

"The allegations in the abuse reports go to the heart of whether abuse, neglect and/or exploitation has been perpetrated by the guardian [Michael Schiavo]," the DCF's 10-page petition said, according to the Sentinel.

The allegations were based partly on bone scans showing Terri Schiavo suffered fractures, as well as statements she made to family and friends that she was unhappy in her marriage, the AP reported Friday.

Responding to allegations of abuse in 1992, Michael Schiavo told the Tampa Tribune: "I've never, ever struck a woman, especially my wife. I was raised better than that."

He called the abuse allegations "utterly ridiculous," suggesting instead that Terri's injuries may have been caused during physical therapy sessions.

Vatican Says Pope John Paul II Dies at 84

John Paul II, who led the Roman Catholic Church for 26 years and helped topple communism in Europe while becoming the most-traveled pope, died Saturday night in his Vatican apartment after a long public struggle against debilitating illness. He was 84.
"We all feel like orphans this evening," Undersecretary of State Archbishop Leonardo Sandri told the crowd of 70,000 that had gathered in St. Peter's Square below the pope's still-lighted apartment windows.


The assembled faithful fell into a stunned silence before some people broke out in applause � an Italian tradition in which mourners often clap for important figures. Others wept.

The crowd, which appeared to grow quickly, recited the rosary. A person in the front held a Polish flag in honor of the Polish-born pontiff.

Prelates asked those in the square to keep silent so they might "accompany the pope in his first steps into heaven."

Later, as bells tolled in mourning, a group of young people sang, "Alleluia, he will rise again," while one of them strummed a guitar.

"The angels welcome you," Vatican TV said after papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls announced the death of the pope, who had for years suffered from Parkinson's disease and came down with fever and infections in recent weeks.

A Mass was scheduled for St. Peter's Square for 10:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EDT) Sunday.

In contrast to the church's ancient traditions, Navarro-Valls announced the death in an e-mail to journalists: "The Holy Father died this evening at 9:37 p.m. (2:37 p.m. EST) in his private apartment." The spokesman said church officials were following instructions that John Paul had written for them on Feb. 22, 1996.

"He was a marvelous man. Now he's no longer suffering," Concetta Sposato, a pilgrim who heard the pope had died as she was on her way to St. Peter's to pray, said tearfully.

"My father died last year. For me, it feels the same," said Elisabetta Pomacalca, a 25-year-old Peruvian who lives in Rome.

"I'm Polish. For us, he was a father," said pilgrim Beata Sowa.

John Paul declined rapidly after suffering heart and kidney failure following two hospitalizations in as many months. Just two hours before announcing his death, the Vatican had said he was in "very serious" condition, although he was responding to aides.

Since his surprise election in 1978, John Paul traveled the world, inspiring a revolt against communism in his native Poland and across the Soviet bloc, but also preaching against consumerism, contraception and abortion.

John Paul was a robust 58 when the cardinals stunned the world and elected the cardinal from Krakow, the first non-Italian pope in 455 years.

In his later years, however, John Paul was the picture of frailty. Although he kept up his travels, he was no longer able to kiss the ground.

Italy's ANSA news agency said Vatican and Italian flags were being lowered to half-staff across Rome and elsewhere. In Washington, flags over the White House also were lowered to half-staff.



People in John Paul II's hometown in Poland fell to their knees and wept as the news of his death reached them at the end of a special Mass in the church where he worshipped as a boy.

Church bells rang out after the announcement from the Vatican, but it took several minutes for people inside the packed, standing-room only church to find out as they continued their vigil into a second night.

Then parish priest, the Rev. Jakub Gil, came to the front of the church as the last hymn died away. "His life has come to an end. Our great countryman has died," he said. People inside the church and standing outside fell to their knees.

Earlier Saturday, Navarro-Valls said John Paul was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken to. But he added: "Since dawn this morning, there have been first signs that consciousness is being affected."

"Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you speak to him he opens his eyes," Navarro-Valls said.

The pope was last seen in public Wednesday when, looking gaunt and unable to speak, he briefly appeared at his window.

His health sharply deteriorated the next day after he suffered a urinary tract infection.

Navarro-Valls said the pope was still speaking late Friday but did not take part when Mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.

He said aides had told the pope that thousands of young people were in St. Peter's Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the pope appeared to be referring to them when he seemed to say: "'I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.'"

One of the pope's closest aides, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was quoted Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning, John Paul was "aware that he is passing to the Lord."

The pope "gave me the final farewell," the news agency of the Italian bishops conference quoted the German cardinal as saying Friday night.

Media Denied Access to Schiavo DCF Records

The bizare behavior and actions of Judge Greer just keep happening. Is it time to bring in the F.B.I.? What is needed to trigger a Federal investigation?

- AP via Wired News
CLEARWATER, Fla. (AP) -- Summaries of state Department of Children & Families investigations into the treatment Terri Schiavo cannot be released to the media, a judge ruled Friday.

Ruling the day after Schiavo died, Circuit Judge George Greer denied a request from the St. Petersburg Times to obtain summaries of dozens of investigations into complaints that Schiavo was being mistreated. None of the allegations were substantiated.

On CBS in May:Terri TV movie

CBS is rushing a Terri Schiavo TV movie into production so that it can air the biopic during the May ratings sweeps.

There is no word on whether the network has secured the cooperation of either the Schindler family, Terri's parents and siblings, or Michael Schiavo, her estranged husband.

There are reports Michael Schiavo is entertaining offers of book, movie and TV deals for Terri's story. Industry sources say Schiavo is likely to be offered up to $2 million for a book deal and up to $2 million for a movie or TV deal.
Keri Russell

Dean Cain

CBS' Terri story reportedly will feature "Felicity" star Keri Russell to star as America�s tragic heroine and Dean Cain of "Lois and Clark" as the husband who relentlessly seeks an end to her life.

Gravely Ill Pope Losing Consciousness

Pope John Paul II showed the first signs of losing consciousness at dawn on Saturday, the Vatican said, as priests around the world prepared the Roman Catholic faithful for his passing.

But John Paul, 84, was not in a coma and opened his eyes when spoken to, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

The pope's health began deteriorating Thursday after he suffered a urinary tract infection. In its latest statement the Vatican, which earlier described his heart and kidneys as failing, said his condition was unchanged and "very grave."

Navarro-Valls said the pope was still speaking late Friday but did not take part when Mass was celebrated in his presence Saturday morning.


"Since dawn this morning there have been first signs that consciousness is being affected," he said.

"Sometimes it seems as if he were resting with his eyes closed, but when you speak to him, he opens his eyes," Navarro-Valls said.

He said aides had told the pope that thousands of young people were in St. Peter's Square on Friday evening. Navarro-Valls said the pope appeared to be referring to them when he seemed to say: "'I have looked for you. Now you have come to me. And I thank you.'"

Vatican cardinal Achille Silvestrini visited John Paul Saturday morning, accompanied by another cardinal, Jean-Louis Tauran.

"I found him relaxed, placid, serene. He was in his bed. He was breathing without labor. He looked like he lost weight," Silvestrini said.

He said the when he and Tauran came into the room, the pope seemed to recognize them.

"The pope showed with a vibration of his face that he understood, indicating with a movement of his eyes. He showed he was reacting," he added.

For a second day, the Vatican announced a series of papal appointments including a Spanish bishop, an official of the Armenian Catholic Church and ambassadors to El Salvador and Panama.

One of the pope's closest aides, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was quoted Saturday as saying that when he saw the pontiff on Friday morning, John Paul was "aware that he is passing to the Lord."

The pope "gave me the final farewell," the news agency of the Italian bishops conference quoted the German cardinal as saying Friday night.

Tourists and pilgrims streamed anew into St. Peter's Square on Saturday, and around the world, priests prepared Roman Catholics for the pope's death. Many expressed hope that his final hours would be peaceful.

"Now he prepares to meet the Lord," Cardinal Francis George said at a Mass in Chicago on Friday. "As the portals of death open for him, as they will for each of us ... we must accompany him with our own prayers."

A workman in the square, declining to give his name, told The Associated Press that crews were taking down the canopy on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, which had covered an altar during Easter Sunday Mass. They said they had orders to clear the space for when the pope's coffin eventually is carried into the square.

Several cardinals from the United States and Latin America said they were heading to Rome. After the official mourning period following the death of a pope, cardinals hold a secret vote in the Sistine Chapel to choose a successor.

The Il Secolo XIX newspaper of Genoa reported that the pope, with the help of his private secretary Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, wrote a note to his aides urging them not to weep for him.




"I am happy, and you should be as well," the note reportedly said. "Let us pray together with joy."

However, Navarro-Valls said he couldn't confirm the report, even after speaking to the pope's secretary.

As word of his deteriorating condition spread across the globe, special Masses celebrated the pope for transforming the Roman Catholic Church during his 26-year papacy and for his example in fearlessly confronting death.

Hospitalized twice last month after breathing crises, and fitted with a breathing tube and a feeding tube, John Paul has become a picture of suffering.

His papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments. The pope also survived a 1981 assassination attempt, when a Turkish gunman shot him in the abdomen.

In Washington, the White House said President Bush and his wife were praying for the pope and that the world's concern was "a testimony to his greatness."

Cardinal Marcio Francesco Pompedda, a high-ranking Vatican administrator, visited the pope Friday morning and said he opened his eyes and smiled.

"I understood he recognized me. It was a wonderful smile - I'll remember it forever. It was a benevolent smile - a father-like smile," Pompedda told RAI television. He told the Milan daily Il Giornale the pope was lying in bed propped up by pillows, and twice tried but failed to say something.

"There were various tubes, and an intravenous drip, but I confess that I didn't dwell on these details," said Pompedda, adding that the pope appeared to be "suffering but serene."

John Paul's health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.

Septic shock involves both bacteria in the blood and a consequent over-relaxing of the blood vessels. The vessels, which are normally narrow and taut, get floppy in reaction to the bacteria and can't sustain any pressure. That loss of blood pressure is catastrophic, making the heart work hard to compensate for the collapse.

Dr. Gianni Angelini, a professor of cardiac surgery at Bristol University in England, said the chances of an elderly person in John Paul's condition surviving septic shock more than 48 hours was no more than 20 percent, "but that would be in an intensive care unit with very aggressive treatment."

Schiavo Medical Examiner Completes Autopsy

The medical examiner completed the autopsy of Terri Schiavo on Friday, clearing the way for the release of the body to her husband, who plans to cremate her remains and bury the ashes without telling his in-laws when or where.

Results of the autopsy may not be released for several weeks, the medical examiner's office said. Husband Michael Schiavo hopes the autopsy will settle questions about her medical condition, but experts differ on whether that will happen. Michael Schiavo and his in-laws spent Friday planning separate funerals for the 41-year-old woman, who died Thursday - 13 days after her feeding tube was removed.
Her parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, have scheduled a funeral Mass for Tuesday in nearby Gulfport. The Mass will be preceded by a gathering for people to express their condolences.

Michael Schiavo's family has said he plans to take the cremated remains to Pennsylvania, where she grew up, but her parents want to bury her body in Florida so her parents and siblings can visit her grave.

Michael Schiavo declined to comment on the autopsy. The body is now ready for release to an unidentified mortuary designated by her husband.

Terri Schiavo had been the center of a long legal battle over whether she would have wanted to be kept alive with the feeding tube for 15 years after suffering a devastating brain injury.

David Gibbs, the Schindlers' attorney, said there have been no further discussions between Michael Schiavo and the Schindlers about their daughter's remains. The Schindlers do not plan to press the issue in court, he said.

"The court has already determined that (Michael Schiavo) will control the burial decisions," Gibbs said.

Outside the Pinellas Park hospice where Terri Schiavo lived for five years, just a few protesters returned Friday for a brief mass as city workers took down barricades used to control the crowd. Media crews from around the country packed up their gear.

Friday, April 01, 2005

Vatican: Pope John Paul II Is Near Death

Pope John Paul II was near death Friday, his breathing shallow and his heart and kidneys failing, the Vatican said. Millions of faithful around the world knelt, crawled on their knees, bowed their heads and lit candles to pray for the 84-year-old pontiff.

"This evening or this night, Christ opens the door to the pope," Angelo Comastri, the pope's vicar general for Vatican City, told a crowd at St. Peter's Square, where tens of thousands prayed into the chilly night. Many tearfully gazed at John Paul's third-floor window, wrapping themselves in blankets.

The Vatican said Friday morning that John Paul was in "very grave" condition after suffering blood poisoning from a urinary tract infection the previous night, but that he was "fully conscious and extraordinarily serene" and declined to be hospitalized.

By Friday night, the pope's condition had worsened further, and he was suffering from kidney failure and shortness of breath but had not lost consciousness as of 9:30 p.m., the Vatican said.


Cardinal Javier Lozano Barragan, the Vatican's health minister, told Mexico's Televisa dal Vaticano that the pope "is about to die."

"I talked to the doctors and they told me there is no more hope," the Mexican cardinal told the television channel.

As word of his condition spread across the globe, special Masses celebrated the pope for transforming the Roman Catholic Church during his 26-year papacy and for his example in fearlessly confronting death.

In Wadowice, Poland, people left school and work early and headed to church to pray for their native son.

"I want him to hold on, but it is all in God's hands now," said 64-year-old Elzbieta Galuszko at the church where the pope was baptized. "We can only pray for him so he can pull through these difficult moments."


In the Philippines, tears streamed down the face of Linda Nicol as she and her husband asked God to grant John Paul "a longer life."

At the Church of the Assumption in Lagos, sub-Saharan Africa's most populous city of over 13 million, about 200 Nigerians in Western clothes and bright traditional African robes sat on wooden benches, offering prayers for the pope at a midday Mass.

In Washington, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick said he had heard from Rome that the pope was "sinking." McCarrick said he prayed that God will "take him peacefully."

The White House said President Bush and his wife were praying for the pope and that the world's concern was "a testimony to his greatness."

By afternoon, a steady stream of pilgrims jammed the Via della Conciliazione, the main avenue leading to St. Peter's. Some carried candles, while others held rosaries. Some looked through binoculars or camera lenses at the window of John Paul's apartment.


Police put the crowd at 30,000 during a recitation of the rosary in the square Friday night, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The two windows of John Paul's apartment lit up an otherwise darkened Apostolic Palace. Most people in the square stood still and silent after the prayers ended.

"We are near to him in prayer so that he can go to heaven, welcomed by the Lord and the other saints," said Rossella Longo, a young woman distributing rosaries to the crowd.

Tripp McLaughlin, a 20-year-old American in Rome, said "it would be a blessing if he passed on."

"You see video of him when he became pope, he was so alive, so excited to be here. Now to see him break down is just really sad," McLaughlin said.

Among those at the square in the morning was Rome's chief rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, who said he came "to pray here in the piazza as a sign of sharing in the grief of our brothers for their concerns and as a sign of warmth for this pope and for all that he has done."


During the morning, John Paul had participated in Mass and received some top aides at his bedside, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said. The pope declined to be hospitalized.

Cardinal Marcio Francesco Pompedda, a high-ranking Vatican administrator, visited the pope Friday morning and said he opened his eyes and smiled.

"I understood he recognized me. It was a wonderful smile - I'll remember it forever. It was a benevolent smile - a father-like smile," Pompedda told RAI television. "I also noticed that he wanted to tell me something but he could not. ... But what impressed me very much was his expression of serenity."

Hospitalized twice last month after breathing crises, and fitted with a breathing tube and a feeding tube, John Paul has become a picture of suffering. His papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.

It is not clear who would be empowered to make medical decisions for an unconscious pope. The Vatican has declined to say whether John Paul has left written instructions.

John Paul's health declined sharply Thursday when he developed a high fever brought on by the infection. The pope suffered septic shock and heart problems during treatment for the infection, the Vatican said.

Septic shock involves both bacteria in the blood and a consequent over-relaxing of the blood vessels. The vessels, which are normally narrow and taut, get floppy in reaction to the bacteria and can't sustain any pressure. That loss of blood pressure is catastrophic, making the heart work hard to compensate for the collapse.

Even the fittest patients need special care and medicine to survive.

"The chances of an elderly person in this condition with septic shock surviving 24 to 48 hours are slim - about 10-20 percent, but that would be in an intensive care unit with very aggressive treatment," said Dr. Gianni Angelini, a professor of cardiac surgery at Bristol University in England.

Dr. Peter Salgo, associate director of the intensive care unit at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, said the pope's shallow breathing "is totally consistent with severe failure of the blood vessels to provide blood to all the key organs. Eventually you run out of reserve."

The pontiff was treated by the Vatican medical team and provided with "all the appropriate therapeutic provisions and cardio-respiratory assistance," the Holy See said. It said the pope was being helped by his personal doctor, two intensive care doctors, a cardiologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist and two nurses.

On Friday morning, John Paul asked aides to read him the biblical passage describing the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross, the path that Christ took to his Crucifixion and burial, Navarro-Valls told reporters. The pope followed attentively and made the sign of the cross, he said.

John Paul also asked that scripture of the so-called "Third Hour" be read to him. The passage is significant because according to tradition, Christ died at three o'clock in the afternoon.

"This is surely an image I have never seen in these 26 years," the usually unflappable Navarro-Valls said.

Choking up, he walked out of the room.

Cardinals Differ on Who Will Succeed Pope

Pope John Paul II has named nearly every cardinal who will elect his successor, but that does not mean the next pontiff will be just like him.

The world's cardinals hold diverse and often conflicting views about what are the most pressing issues for the Roman Catholic Church and will likely seek out a leader with different qualities than John Paul's. "The cardinals, when they come in the conclave, they follow their conscience and they see what's useful for the church today," said Belgian Cardinal Godfried Danneels, in a recent interview with The Associated Press. "There is not that kind of nepotism in the church � 'I appointed all the cardinals so there will be exactly my copy.' No. We are a bit more intelligent than that."
The next pope will confront a range of challenges, including scientific advances that conflict with Catholic teaching; the decline of religious observance in Europe and North America; an explosion in church membership in the Third World; and a dwindling number of priests in the West.

He will be taking over at a time of sometimes deadly interfaith tensions, and during a period of enormous global unrest, as world leaders confront terrorism in ways the church does not always condone. Yet when the cardinals decide who among them can handle these issues, some of their concerns may seem mundane.

After a quarter-century of John Paul's strong personality and hands-on management style, some want Vatican officials to stay out of the day-to-day operations of dioceses. Others believe officials in Rome should stay deeply involved to crack down on dissent.

Some church leaders believe cardinals and bishops should have more say in church governance, while others think that power should remain mostly with the pope.

In simple terms, the new pope could be the kind of boss the cardinals want for themselves.

They also will look for a man with a strong command of English and Italian, to communicate with the world's Catholics and with church officials in charge of the day-to-day operations of the Vatican.

Age may also be a factor. John Paul's papacy of 26 years has been one of the longest in church history, and the cardinals may back an older candidate as a "transitional pope" � someone whose tenure may not be quite so long.

"Most cardinals don't think a really long papacy will be a good idea," said James Hitchcock, a historian and church expert at Saint Louis University. "But with modern medicine if they elect a man who is 70, he could live until he was 95."

Geography also will influence the vote. John Paul was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Vatican observers disagree over whether there will be pressure in the conclave to return the papacy to an Italian, or whether they will want to send a signal to the burgeoning ranks of Catholics in the Third World by choosing an African or Latin American candidate.

"This is one of the real dividing lines they're going to have to consider," said David Gibson, a former Vatican Radio newsman and author of "The Coming Catholic Church."

"If they just go back to an elderly Italian, it will be a kind of let down from the intensity of this papacy. Or they may say, `Look, let's keep this interest going, we went behind the Iron Curtain last time, let's go to Latin America this time.'"

Although there are many unknowns going into a conclave, church experts agree on at least one thing: There is almost no chance the next pope will be an American. The cardinals will not want to give the impression that the church is in the hands of the world's lone superpower.

And Catholics clinging to a shred of hope that the church will make celibacy optional for priests or allow women to be ordained will probably be disappointed.

"You're not going to see a liberal in that sense. There really aren't liberals like that," Gibson said. "I think there's some room for discussion on celibacy. And that is simply what it would be: discussion."



Danneels noted another reason that the next pope will not be a carbon copy of John Paul: there is no one exactly like him in the College of Cardinals.

"My impression with the pope is he combines two qualities that you rarely find together in one person," Danneels said. "He's a leader. ... At the same time, he's a very warm person."

Schindler Coroner Nixed From Terri Autopsy

Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, the well-known forensic pathologist and coroner of Allegheny County, Pa., told listeners of a morning radio show that he was denied permission to observe Terri Schiavo's autopsy, despite the wishes of her parents.

A medical examiner in Pinellas County, Fla., is conducting an autopsy that could help determine what Schiavo's state of consciousness was and whether she was abused by her husband, as the Schindlers allege. Dr. Wecht, appearing on the syndicated "America's Morning Show with Quinn and Rose," based in Pittsburgh, said that an investigator working for the Schindlers' lawyers had called him on Thursday to see whether he would be agreeable to observing the autopsy.

Dr. Wecht told Quinn and Rose he was certainly agreeable to that, but that several hours later he received word that the medical examiner had declined to give him permission.

Dr. Wecht told the morning hosts that he considered this a mistake, according to Rose Somma Tennent. "He said that, if this were in [his] office, [he] would have said sure - not just because of professional courtesy, but because of the controversy sourrounding this case," Somma Tennet said.

Calls made during the show to the medical examiner's office were not returned.

The results from the autopsy are expected in a few weeks.

Poll Shift on Terri's Death

Public opinion may be shifting on the decision to disconnect Terri Schiavo's feeding tube and starve her to death, according to a new Fox Opinion Dynamics survey � with a significant percentage of Americans now saying it was "murder."

When asked about the "decision to remove" Schiavo's feeding tube, 38 percent of Americans told Opinion Dynamics that they disagreed with the move, with 42 percent saying it was the right thing to do. A full 20 percent said they were unsure.

A widely circulated ABC News poll last week asked if it was right to pull Schiavo's feeding tube, noting that she's been "on life support for 15 years" with a condition that is "irreversible."

Phrasing the question like that, 63 percent backed the decision to remove her tube, with 28 opposed.

In perhaps the most startling finding of the survey, 50 percent of African-Americans told Opinion Dynamics that removing Schiavo's feeding tube was "an act of murder."

Thirty-nine percent of Republicans agreed. Even among Americans under 30, more than a third of the population [35 percent] believe that Schiavo was murdered.

Opinion Dynamics surveyed 900 registered voters on March 29-30, the day before Schiavo died.

AP: The Vatican has denied reports that Pope John Paul II has died...

ITALY'S SKY ITALIA QUOTING VATICAN SOURCES SAYS POPE'S BRAIN, HEART STILL FUNCTIONING...

Italian media gave contradictory reports about Pope John Paul's vital signs on Friday, first saying his heart and brain activity had stopped and then reporting this was not true... Developing...

Report: Pope John Paul II Has Died

The Pope has Died. God be with him.

Vatican: Pope Worsens Again

Pope John Paul II (search) was in critical condition on Friday, the Vatican reported he was deteriorating again and new Italian television reports said that he had lost consciousness just after the sun set in Rome.

Meanwhile, a large Mass was being held for him in Rome as the pontiff neared the end of his life.

APCOM News Agency apparently provided the first report Friday evening of the pope losing consciousness. He slipped in and out of a coma overnight, according to Italian media reports.

The Vatican issued a statement about the most recent turn of events.

"The general condition and cardio respiratory condition of the Holy Father have further worsened," the latest statement, issued just after 7 p.m. (noon EST) Friday. The Vatican also said the pope's breathing had become shallow.

As the latest medical developments unfolded, the pope's followers attended a large Mass for him at the church of Santa Giovanni in Laterano in Rome, led by Cardinal Camillo Ruini (search), the pope's vicar.

"Give him the strength he needs at this moment in his life ... Amen," Cardinal Ruini prayed.

The Vatican reported that the "Holy Father, with visual participation, is joining in the prayers of those assisting him."

Meanwhile, people continued to stream in to join the Mass and pay homage to their pope.

Friday dawned with the Vatican describing the pope as "lucid," "serene" and "conscious" while some in the press were describing him as comatose.

The pope was also reported to be celebrating Mass and receiving top aides earlier Friday, asking one to read him the biblical account of Christ's crucifixion and burial.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls (search), at one point crying, said that the pope had requested to remain in his apartment overlooking St. Peter's Square after being "informed of the gravity of his situation."

"The pope is still lucid, fully conscious and extraordinarily serene," Navarro-Valls said. He said the pope remained "in very serious condition" with unstable blood pressure.

"He is fully conscious about the real gravity of the situation and he asked whether it was strictly necessary to go to the hospital. He has decided to remain" at the Vatican, the spokesman said.

President Bush was briefed on the pope's condition Thursday night and again Friday morning in the Oval office.

"The president and Mrs. Bush join people all across the world who are praying for the Holy Father. He is in our prayers at this time," White House press secretary Scott McClellan said Friday morning.

"The Pope is an inspiration to millions of Americans. He is an inspiration to people all over the world. And he has provided great moral leadership," McClellan said.

John Paul asked aides to read him the biblical passage describing the final stage of the Way of the Cross, the path that Christ took to his crucifixion, Navarro-Valls said.

He said the pope followed attentively and made the sign of the cross.

"This is surely an image I have never seen in these 26 years," Navarro-Valls said. Choking up, he walked out of the room.

The latest downturn in the pontiff's health developed after he contracted a very high fever brought on by a urinary tract infection and then experienced heart problems on Thursday. He received the Roman Catholic sacrament for the gravely ill and the dying once known as "Last Rites."

The pope's blood pressure was plummeting on Friday, as a result of septic shock (search). While low blood pressure is quite serious, it is not irreversible.

Italy's Apcom news agency reported Friday morning that the pontiff had fallen into a coma, but the Vatican dismissed the report.

On Friday, John Paul received several top aides. In addition to his vicar, Cardinal Ruini, they included the Vatican No. 2, Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano (search); undersecretary of state Archbishop Leonardo Sandri; his doctrinal chief, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (search); the Vatican foreign minister, Archbishop Giovanni Lajolo; American Cardinal Edmund Szoka (search), the governor of Vatican City; and Archbishop Paolo Sardi, the Vatican vice chamberlain.

The chamberlain, or camerlengo, runs the Holy See between the death of a pope and the election of a new one.

The pontiff was attended to in his apartment by the Vatican medical team, and provided with "all the appropriate therapeutic provisions and cardio-respiratory assistance," the Holy See said.

It said the pope was being helped by his personal doctor, two intensive care doctors, a cardiologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist and two nurses.

Cardinal Szoka, who is also the former archbishop of Detroit, said the pope was being given oxygen.

"As soon as he saw me, he recognized me," Szoka told "CBS Morning News" on Friday. "I blessed him and as I did, he tried to make the sign of the cross. So he was perfectly lucid, perfectly conscious, but was having a great deal of trouble breathing.

"And I don't know how long he can continue with that. They were giving him oxygen and all that sort of thing, helping him," Szoka said.

The pope's vicar Cardinal Ruini said he visited John Paul early Friday and also described the pontiff as "lucid" and "serene."

"I prayed with him for a moment which profoundly moved me," Ruini told private TG5 television. "Certainly the pope has completely left himself in God's hands. I invite all Romans and Italians to intensify prayers for him in this moment."

He said a special Mass for the pope would be held at 7 p.m. (noon EST) at the basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. The patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, also planned a Mass in St. Mark Basilica at the same time.

Navarro-Valls said in an earlier statement that the pope had experienced septic shock and heart problems on Thursday afternoon.

Dr. Peter Weissberg, medical director of the British Heart Foundation (search), said septic shock "puts a phenomenal strain on the heart." He said between 80 percent and 90 percent of patients in this condition die within a few days.

Navarro-Valls said the pope followed the Way of the Cross prayer re-enacting Christ's final hours as he has done every Friday since he was a priest. He asked that the 14 stages be read to him � biblical texts which describe Christ's path to the cross, his crucifixion and when his body is taken down, wrapped in a linen shroud and buried in his tomb, the spokesman said.

The pope made the sign of the cross as the passages were read, he said.

The pope was not rushed to the hospital because he wanted to remain in his apartment, where he was treated by the Vatican medical team and provided with "all the appropriate therapeutic provisions and cardio-respiratory assistance," the Vatican said.

The pope was being helped by a fleet of caregivers: his personal doctor, two intensive care doctors, a cardiologist, an ear, nose and throat specialist, and two nurses.

In Washington on Thursday, Cardinal Theodore McCarrick (search), archbishop of the District of Columbia, called a press conference on Thursday and asked for prayer for the pontiff.

"Pray for the holy father, that he may recover and be able to communicate," McCarrick said. "If this is not the Lord's will, may he not suffer. He's going through a period of suffering. We worry about him."

At the edge of St. Peter's Square, hundreds of people gathered early Friday. A few got down on their knees to pray for the pontiff. Others, having kept vigil through the night, sat cloaked in blankets.

"There's nothing we can do but pray. We're all upset," said Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno, who was in the crowd.

"I was in the car and I heard on the radio about the grave condition of the pope. I immediately thought I would come to St. Peter's," said Antonio Ceresa, a Roman.

Around the world, people of different faiths joined in prayer for John Paul.

"Catholics, fellow Christians ... will be praying for him at this time as he comes toward the end of his extraordinary and wonderful life," said Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (search), the archbishop of Westminster and one of the most senior Catholic clerics in Britain.

In France, Muslim leader Dalil Boubakeur (search) said Muslims were praying for the pope, describing him as a "man of peace" whose stature has been a determining factor for change in the world.

In the pope's home country, Poles flocked to churches as word spread of his deteriorating condition.

"I want him to hold on, but it is all in God's hands now," said 64-year-old Elzbieta Galuszko at the church where the pope was baptized in Wadowice, southern Poland. "We can only pray for him so he can pull through these difficult moments."

The "Last Rites" ritual is the Roman Catholic sacrament reserved for both the gravely sick and the dying and involves anointing the ailing person with special oils.

Currently known as the "Sacrament of the Infirm" since it is also now done for the gravely ill, it used to be known as "Last Rites" or "Extreme Unction" because it was reserved only for the dying in the past.

The sacrament is often misunderstood as signaling imminent death. But it is performed not only for patients at the point of death, but also those facing grave illness or a serious operation � and it may be repeated.

The Rome daily La Repubblica reported Friday that the sacrament was administered by John Paul's closest aide, Polish Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, who serves as his private secretary. Dziwisz had given the pontiff the same sacrament on Feb. 24 just before the pope underwent a tracheotomy to insert a tube in his throat at Gemelli Polyclinic, the newspaper said.

According to its account, John Paul had attended Mass Thursday morning in his private chapel, then did paperwork from an armchair. Abruptly, at 6:45 p.m., John Paul turned ghostly pale and his blood pressure plummeted, the newspaper said.

After antibiotics were administered, the Italian news agency Apcom reported without citing any sources, John Paul's condition was "stable." ANSA, another Italian news agency, said the pope "seems to showing a first positive reaction" to antibiotic therapy.

A urinary infection can produce fever and a drop in blood pressure, said Dr. Marc Siegel, a specialist in internal medicine at the New York University Medical Center.

The pope's risk of such an infection is heightened because he is elderly � which suggests his prostate is probably enlarged � debilitated and run down from the illness that recently sent him to the hospital, Siegel said.

Urinary infections tend to respond well to antibiotics, given either as pills or intravenously, Siegel said.

Hospitalized twice last month following two breathing crises and with a tube placed in his throat to help him breathe, John Paul has become a picture of suffering. When he appeared at his apartment window Wednesday to bless pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, he managed to utter only a rasp.

Later that day, the Vatican announced he had been fitted with a feeding tube in his nose to help boost his nutritional intake.

The use of the feeding tube illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic policy John Paul has proclaimed: It is morally necessary to give patients food and water, no matter their condition.

As Parkinson's disease (search) and other ailments have left him increasingly frail, the pope has been emphasizing that the chronically ill, "prisoners of their condition ... retain their human dignity in all its fullness."

The Vatican's attitude to the chronically ill has been apparent in its bitter condemnation of a judge's order two weeks ago to remove a feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged American woman who died Thursday.

Vatican Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, reacting to Schiavo's death, denounced the removal of her feeding tube as "an attack against God."

While John Paul is fully alert, some see parallels in the two cases.

Under John Paul, Vatican teaching on the final stages of life includes a firm rejection of euthanasia, insistence on treatments that help people bear ailments with dignity and encouragement of research to enhance and prolong life.

A 1980 Vatican document makes the distinction between "proportionate" and "disproportionate" means of prolonging life. While it gives room for refusal of some forms of aggressive medical intervention for terminally ill patients, it insists that "normal care" must not be interrupted.

John Paul set down exactly what that meant in a speech last year to an international conference on treatments for patients in a so-called persistent vegetative state.

"I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory."

John Paul's 26-year papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.

The Rev. Thomas Williams, a Rome-based theologian, said there are parallels between Schiavo and John Paul, based on the church teaching that such feeding is required. "In that sense, there is a great similarity," he said.

But he pointed out that the pope has been fully conscious and running the church. Court-appointed doctors had determined that Schiavo was in a persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery before her death. Schiavo's parents had argued that she could get better and that she would never have wanted to be cut off from food and water.

It is not clear who would be empowered to make medical decisions for an unconscious pope. The pope has no close relatives, but the Vatican has officially declined to comment whether John Paul has left written instructions.

America now functioning as 'krytocracy'

Geopolitical expert says U.S. ruled by 'government of judges'

No longer functioning as a nation of, by and for the people, the U.S., in the aftermath of the Terri Schiavo case, is now a "krytocracy," ruled by judges, asserts geopolitical expert Jack Wheeler.

In a column on his intelligence website, To the Point, Wheeler mentions many disturbing news stories he read upon returning from a trip to Egypt for 10 days � including the Schiavo saga.


"The Bush brothers' refusal to prevent Terri's killing will do lasting political damage to them both," writes Wheeler. "As John Fund of the Wall Street Journal points out, if Janet Reno could override a court order and have Elian Gonzalez kidnapped at gunpoint to be returned to Communist Cuba, either Jeb or George Bush could have overridden Greer to save Terri's life. Her death will be an ineradicable stain on GW's presidency and Jeb's chances for the White House.

Wheeler then mentions a possible silver lining to the story.

"If any good is to come of this tragedy it would be to catalyze the recognition among Americans that America is no longer a democracy," Wheeler explains. "It has become a krytocracy, a government of judges. We no longer have a government of, by and for the people. America today is ruled not by elected representatives, but unelected judges, governed not by law but by the arbitrary � and in the case of George Greer, homicidal � whims of people in black robes."

Concludes Wheeler: "The struggle for freedom and against lunacy is never over. Any respite is very brief. The anti-Communist RENAMO guerrillas in Mozambique, fighting to liberate their country from Soviet colonial tyranny and with whom I spent a lot of time in the 1980s, had a motto: A Luta Continua, Portuguese for The Struggle Continues. No matter what tragedies befall us and insanities beset us, we must never give up fighting for life and freedom, and against the forces of death and oppression."

Group warns against living wills

Standard form 'assumes you want to be starved or dehydrated to death'

Amid the national crush to fill out living wills in the wake of the Terri Schiavo saga, a California pro-life group is warning citizens against signing that state's standard living will form, claiming it could result in a painful death by starvation and dehydration.

Campaign for Children and Families, a family-values nonprofit organization, is urging people to avoid using California's Advance Health Care Directive form because it makes no distinction between food and water versus heart-and-lung machinery and other artificial life-support systems. Californians who use the state's form with its standard check-off boxes may be denied nutrition and hydration, says the CCF, and could end up dying of thirst and hunger if they fall into a coma or become otherwise incapacitated.

The state's Advance Health Care Directive is found in the California Probate Code, Section 4701.

"California's living will law assumes you want to be starved or dehydrated to death," said CCF President Randy Thomasson. "This is frightening. Most people don't know that signing the standard advance directive form could sentence you to a horrible death, by your own hand or someone else's." The California's standard form provides space for citizens to further specify their wishes, but without the extra input, the form defaults in the direction of equating nutrition and hydration with artificial life-support machinery.

The group is recommending, instead, that interested Californians use the pro-life "Will to Live" form.

In fact, the National Right to Life website provides a "Will to Live" form for every state plus Washington, D.C.

"If you sign the standard form, and then fall into a temporary coma, or become disabled in an accident, or incur brain damage that initially prevents you from talking or writing, you could literally be starved and dehydrated to death by your own signature or by the person you appoint as your health care agent," said Jan Carroll McCoy, former associate western director for the National Right to Life Committee.

The problem, say critics of California's standard "living will" form, is that by simply filling in the check-off boxes provided, the citizen gives total control over his care, including the decision to withhold and withdraw food and water, to his agent:


(1.2) AGENT'S AUTHORITY: My agent is authorized to make all health care decisions for me, including decisions to provide, withhold, or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration and all other forms of health care to keep me alive, except as I state here.
Ironically, CCF says both the check-off options of "Choice Not to Prolong Life" and "Choice to Prolong Life" are "misleading and deadly."

The choice against prolonging life artificially with machinery opens the door for death by dehydration and starvation, since California's law defines "health care" and "treatment" as including nutrition and hydration. But even checking the box to prolong life may be problematic, say critics, since that decision puts the signer within the changing limits of "generally accepted health standards," which could conceivably encompass the denial of food and water under certain circumstances.


(2.1) END-OF-LIFE DECISIONS: I direct that my health care providers and others involved in my care provide, withhold, or withdraw treatment in accordance with the choice I have marked below:
___ (a) Choice Not To Prolong Life

I do not want my life to be prolonged if (1) I have an incurable and irreversible condition that will result in my death within a relatively short time, (2) I become unconscious and, to a reasonable degree of medical certainty, I will not regain consciousness, or (3) the likely risks and burdens of treatment would outweigh the expected benefits, OR

___ (b) Choice To Prolong Life

I want my life to be prolonged as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted health care standards.

"Given that you could be starved and dehydrated to death if you use the ill-defined standard living will, now is the time for responsible citizens to take advantage of the pro-life 'Will to Live,'" said Thomasson. "Unlike the inhumane advance directive form, having a 'Will to Live' guarantees that you will receive the food and water you need should you become incapacitated, while allowing you to make distinctions about what you might consider to be extraordinary care."

The "Will to Live" was developed by the National Right to Life Committee, and is based on the presumption that "food and water are not medical treatment, but basic necessities." It specifically directs health care providers to "provide with food and fluids orally, intravenously, by tube, or by other means to the full extent necessary to both preserve my life and to assure me the optimal health possible."

"Stop and think about it," concluded Thomasson. "Food and water is not 'artificial treatment.' Food and water is not a 'machine.' Food and water is basic care for babies and adults of all ages."

Pope's Condition Reported Stable

Pope John Paul II developed a high fever Thursday because of a urinary tract infection and was being treated with antibiotics at the Vatican, his spokesman said. The latest health setback for the 84-year-old pontiff came one day after he began receiving nutrition through a feeding tube.

There were reports that the pope received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick � what used to be called the last rites. But the Italian news agency Apcom, without citing any sources, reported that John Paul's condition was "stable" early Friday, several hours after he started receiving antibiotics. Another Italian news agency, ANSA, said the pope "seems to showing a first positive reaction" to antibiotic therapy.
At the Gemelli Polyclinic, the hospital where the pope has been treated before, an emergency room chief said there were no plans to admit John Paul "at the moment," ANSA reported.

His assessment could mean that the Vatican medical staff feels confident it can handle the latest medical crisis with the sophisticated medical equipment installed at the Vatican. But it could also mean that the pope's condition was considered so precarious it would be better not to move him immediately.

At the edge of St. Peter's Square, hundreds of people gathered early Friday in a sign of concern over the pope's fragile condition. A few kneeled down on the cobblestones to pray, others wrapped blankets around themselves as they prepared to keep vigil throughout the night.

"There's nothing we can do but pray. We're all upset," said Agriculture Minister Giovanni Alemanno, who was in the crowd.

"I was in the car and I heard on the radio about the grave condition of the pope. I immediately thought I would come to St. Peter's," said Antonio Ceresa, a Roman.

Police barriers kept the faithful and curious out of the square itself.

Vatican officials could not be reached for comment on a report by CNN quoting an unidentified Vatican source as saying that John Paul received the sacrament of the anointing of the sick. The sacrament is often misunderstood as signaling imminent death. But it is performed not only for patients at the point of death, but also for those who are very sick � and it may be repeated.

The pope's spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, told The Associated Press by telephone that "the Holy Father today was struck by a high fever caused by a confirmed infection of the urinary tract."

The pontiff was started on "an appropriate" course of antibiotics, Navarro-Valls said. "The medical situation is being strictly controlled by the Vatican medical team that is taking care of him."

In medical terms, "appropriate" often refers to a choice of antibiotics based on laboratory analysis of the kind of bacteria causing the infection.

Lights in the papal apartment above St. Peter's Square were on until about 11 p.m., generally well past the papal bedtime. The light remained on in the Apostolic Palace's nursing station on the same floor as the pope's apartment.

Police cars and other vehicles were seen going in and out of the Vatican gates as the evening wore on, and a small crowd of Italians who were following news on television began gathering at the edge of the square.

Earlier, ANSA and Apcom said the pope had suffered an alarming drop in blood pressure Thursday evening.

A urinary infection can produce fever and a drop in blood pressure as reported in the pope, said Dr. Marc Siegel, a specialist in internal medicine at the New York University Medical Center.

The pope's risk of such an infection is heightened because he is elderly � which suggests his prostate is probably enlarged � debilitated and run down from the illness that recently sent him to the hospital, Siegel said.

Urinary infections tend to respond well to antibiotics, given either as pills or intravenously, and "I would suspect there's a very good chance he's going to recover well," Siegel said.

Other physicians offered far more guarded assessments, given the pope's overall condition.

"His body has come to a standstill," said Dr. Zab Mosenifar, who treats elderly patients at the intensive care unit at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "Usually, these people go in a downhill course."

Mosenifar noted that the body's organs are interdependent on one another and if one system fails, it could cause a "cascade effect" of other systems shutting down.

"It becomes a vicious cycle," Mosenifar said.

Dr. Benjamin Ansell, an internist at UCLA School of Medicine, said a healthy person may recover from a high fever with no problem, but it could be devastating for those with neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, which the pope has suffered for at least a decade. Some Parkinson's patients who develop a fever may turn catatonic, Ansell said.

"It's not a very promising situation," Ansell said.

Hospitalized twice last month following two breathing crises and with a tube placed in his throat to help him breathe, John Paul has become a picture of suffering. When he appeared at his apartment window Wednesday to bless pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, he managed to utter only a rasp.

Later that day, the Vatican announced he had been fitted with a feeding tube in his nose to help boost his nutritional intake.

The use of the feeding tube illustrates a key point of Roman Catholic policy John Paul has proclaimed: It is morally necessary to give patients food and water, no matter their condition.

As Parkinson's disease and other ailments have left him increasingly frail, the pope has been emphasizing that the chronically ill, "prisoners of their condition ... retain their human dignity in all its fullness."

The Vatican's attitude to the chronically ill has been apparent in its bitter condemnation of a judge's order two weeks ago to remove a feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged American woman who died Thursday.

Vatican Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, reacting to Schiavo's death, denounced the removal of her feeding tube as "an attack against God."

Although different, some see parallels in the two cases.

Under John Paul, Vatican teaching on the final stages of life includes a firm rejection of euthanasia, insistence on treatments that help people bear ailments with dignity and encouragement of research to enhance and prolong life.

A 1980 Vatican document makes the distinction between "proportionate" and "disproportionate" means of prolonging life. While it gives room for refusal of some forms of aggressive medical intervention for terminally ill patients, it insists that "normal care" must not be interrupted.

John Paul set down exactly what that meant in a speech last year to an international conference on treatments for patients in a so-called persistent vegetative state.

"I should like particularly to underline how the administration of water and food, even when provided by artificial means, always represents a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act. Its use, furthermore, should be considered, in principle, ordinary and proportionate, and as such morally obligatory."

John Paul's 26-year papacy has been marked by its call to value the aged and to respect the sick, subjects the pope has turned to as he battles Parkinson's disease and crippling knee and hip ailments.

It is not clear who would be empowered to make medical decisions for an unconscious pope. The pope has no close relatives, but the Vatican has officially declined to comment whether John Paul has left written instructions.

The Rev. Thomas Reese, editor of America, the Jesuit weekly magazine, published in New York City, said Thursday, "We don't know whether or not the pope has a living will. But if he does not, the statement issued a year ago would be a clear indication of his desire that he would not want to be disconnected from a feeding tube unless he was clearly dying."

Schiavo Autopsy Not Husband's Choice

The alleged agreement in which Michael Schiavo requested that an autopsy be performed on Terri Schiavo's body "to have the public know the full and massive extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain," is meaningless. Because Schiavo plans to have his wife's body cremated, Florida law mandates that an autopsy be performed.

Numerous online, broadcast and print news reports in recent days have highlighted Michael Schiavo's "choice" - as explained by his attorney, nationally recognized "right-to-die" author and activist George Felos - to have an autopsy performed. "We didn't feel it was appropriate to talk about an autopsy prior to Mrs. Schiavo's death," Felos said at a March 28 press conference. "But, again, because claims have been made by ... opponents of carrying out her wishes that there was some motive behind the cremation of Mrs. Schiavo, we felt it was necessary to make that announcement."
But the Pinellas County Medical Examiner's office has disputed Felos' portrayal of the autopsy as Michael Schiavo's choice.

"The medical examiner's investigation into the cause of death is mandated by Florida law," said William Pellan, forensic services director. "And, for no other reason, an autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death and family requests are immaterial in that determination."

Felos also claimed that Michael Schiavo was requesting the autopsy because, "He believes it's important to have the public know the full and massive extent of the damage to Mrs. Schiavo's brain that occurred through the cardiac arrest in 1990."

Pellan disputed that claim, as well.

"Pursuant to Florida law, the autopsy report will be public record," Pellan said.

Michael Schiavo's choice to have his wife cremated eliminated any choice he might have had as to whether or not an autopsy will be performed. Florida State Statute 406.11, entitled "Examinations, investigations and autopsies," mandates the circumstances under which an autopsy must be performed.

"In any of the following circumstances involving the death of a human being, the medical examiner of the district in which the death occurred or the body was found shall determine the cause of death and shall, for that purpose, make or have performed such examinations, investigations, and autopsies as he or she shall deem necessary or as shall be requested by the state attorney," the statute states.

The applicable condition bringing the law to bear in the Schiavo case is, "When a body is to be cremated, dissected, or buried at sea."

Robert and Mary Schindler have previously expressed their belief that Michael Schiavo physically assaulted Terri in 1990 resulting in her brain injury. They also accused Schiavo in court documents of neglecting and abusing his wife after her brain injury. Schiavo has denied those allegations.

Dr. Michael Baden, a forensic pathologist who formerly directed the New York City and New York State crime labs, said the autopsy will not prove whether or not Terri was in a Persistent Vegetative State.

"They'll be looking for a number of things, one of which is to identify more clearly what brain damage Terri Schiavo has suffered. [They'll want to] to see whether it was due to a cardiac arrest suffered 15 years ago as was determined in the malpractice litigation, or whether there was any evidence of a brain trauma," Baden told Fox News Channel. "They'll be able to tell that from the brain examination, even 15 years later."

Pellan said the cause of death and autopsy report "may not be available for several weeks," and that his office would make no comment on the investigation while it is in progress. He added that "interested parties" would be notified when the report is completed.

Michael Will Hide Where Terri Schiavo is Buried From Family

Michael Schiavo plans to keep the location of where he will bury Terri Schiavo's ashes a secret and will prevent Terri's family from knowing. His brother told the media on Thursday that Terri's family would show up and cause a spectacle if they found out.

"If Mike knew they would come in peace, he would have no problem with it," Scott Schiavo, Michael Schiavo's brother, told AP.

A complete autopsy will be performed on Terri's body by the local county medical examiner's office. Once that is completed, Michael plans to have Terri's body cremated and her ashes buried in Pennsylvania.

Scott told the Associated Press the ashes will be buried in a burial plot left to Michael by an aunt and uncle.

"We've already said goodbye," Bobby Schindler said when asked about not knowing where his sister would be buried.

Concerning Michael's latest decision snubbing his family, Bobby said, "He's been doing this kind of stuff for 15 years. What would make him stop now?"

Terri's parents fought for years to stop the cremate, citing Terri's Catholic religious beliefs, and asked Judge George Greer to allow Terri to be buried in Florida, closer to her family. Greer declined both requests.

Terri's parents and her family did not discuss the burial issue during their remarks to the media following Terri's death. However, Paul O'Donnell, a Franciscan monk who has been helping the family during the last two weeks, said they would hold a Catholic mass for Terri even though they will not have her body present.

The mass will take place sometime next week.

A spokesman for the Pinellas County medical examiner's office said Terri's body would be given to Michael on Friday for the cremation process to begin.

The autopsy on Terri's body may yield a preliminary look in two to three days but the office will not have final results for two to three weeks.

Thursday, March 31, 2005

NBC, CBS Playing Down Schiavo Case

The major TV networks are trying to play down the Terri Schiavo story as she enters her 13th day of court-ordered starvation and dehydration.

On Wednesday night two of the three major TV networks did not even bother to lead their evening news programs with the most controversial story of our day.

Both the "CBS Evening News" and NBC�s "Nightly News with Brian Williams" led their shows with news stories other than the Schiavo case.

Only ABC�s "World News Tonight" began its program with a full report on the latest developments in the Schiavo case.

CBS featured the Schiavo story as its second feature.


But NBC�s news broadcast wins the award for its effort to downplay the controversy.

Williams first led his program with a report on the Supreme Court�s decision to allow workers expanded rights in claiming age discrimination. He followed that with a report on the pope and his feeding tube.

Williams then simply offered a brief "update" on the Schiavo case narrated by Williams himself. No field report on the most-talked-about story in America, including the major story of the federal appeals court rejecting the Schindler family for the second time.

Why are the media elites in New York so cool to the Terri Schiavo story? Perhaps it�s not pleasant to cover the first court-sanctioned effort to starve to death a U.S. citizen.

Terri Schiavo Dies

Terri Schiavo, the severely brain-damaged 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 Thursday, 13 days after the tube was removed. She was 41.
Schiavo died at the Pinellas Park hospice where she lay for years while her husband and her parents fought over her in the nation's longest, most bitter � and most heavily litigated � right-to-die dispute.



The feud between the parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, and their son-in-law continued even after her death: The Schindlers' spiritual advisers said the couple had been at their daughter's bedside minutes before the end came, but were not there at the moment of her death because Michael Schiavo did not want them in the room.

"And so his heartless cruelty continues until this very last moment," said the Rev. Frank Pavone. He added: "This is not only a death, with all the sadness that brings, but this is a killing, and for that we not only grieve that Terri has passed but we grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this and we pray that it will never happen again."

Michael Schiavo's attorney, George Felos, announced the death but had no immediate comment beyond that. Michael Schiavo's whereabouts were not immediately known.

Outside the hospice, a small group of activists sang hymns, raising their hands to the sky and closing their eyes. After the tube that supplied a nutrient solution was disconnected, protesters had streamed into Pinellas Park to keep vigil outside her hospice, with many arrested as they tried to bring her food and water.

Dawn Kozsey, 47, a musician who was among those outside Schiavo's hospice, wept. "Words cannot express the rage I feel," she said. "Is my heart broken for this? Yes."

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage in 1990 after her heart stopped because of a chemical imbalance that was believed to have been brought on by an eating disorder. Court-appointed doctors ruled she was in a persistent vegetative state, with no real consciousness or chance of recovery.

She left no written instructions, but her husband argued that his wife told him long ago she would not want to be kept alive artificially. His in-laws disputed that, and contended she could get better with treatment. They said she laughed, cried, responded to them and tried to talk.

Over and over, Pinellas County Circuit Judge George W. Greer said that Michael Schiavo had convinced him that Terri Schiavo would not have wanted to be kept alive under such conditions. The feeding tube was removed with the judge's approval March 18 � the third time food and water were cut off during the seven-year legal battle.

Florida lawmakers, Congress and President Bush tried to intervene on behalf of her parents, but state and federal courts at all levels repeatedly ruled in favor of her husband.

The case focused national attention on living wills and stirred a furious debate over the proper role of government in end-of-life decisions. It also led to allegations that Republicans in Congress were pandering to the religious right and violating their own political principles of limited government and states' rights.

In Washington, the president said he was saddened by the death.

"The essence of civilization is that the strong have a duty to protect the weak," Bush said. "In cases where there are serious doubts and questions, the presumption should be in favor of life."

In Rome, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, head of the Vatican's office for sainthood, called the removal of the feeding tube "an attack against God."

An autopsy is planned, with both sides hoping it will shed more light on the extent of her brain injuries. She will be cremated.

Gov. Jeb Bush, whose repeated attempts to get the tube reconnected also failed, said that millions of people around the state and world will be "deeply grieved" by her death but that the debate over her fate could help others grapple with end-of-life issues.



"After an extraordinarily difficult and tragic journey, Terri Schiavo is at rest," the president's brother said. "I remain convinced, however, that Terri's death is a window through which we can see the many issues left unresolved in our families and in our society. For that, we can be thankful for all that the life of Terri Schiavo has taught us."

Although several right-to-die cases have been fought in the courts across the nation in recent years, none had been this public, drawn-out and bitter.

The case worked its way through the state and federal courts over and over. Six times, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene. As Schiavo's life ebbed away, Congress rushed through a bill to allow the federal courts to take up the case. President Bush signed it March 21. But the federal courts refused to intervene.

Described by her family as a shy woman who loved animals, music and basketball, Terri Schindler grew up in Pennsylvania and battled a weight problem in her youth.

"And then when she lost all the weight, she really became quite beautiful on the outside as well. What was inside she allowed to shine out at that point," a friend, Diane Meyer, said in 2003.

She met Michael Schiavo � pronounced SHY-voh � at Bucks County Community College near Philadelphia in 1982. They wed two years later. After they moved to Florida, she worked in an insurance agency.

But recurring battles with weight led to the eating disorder that was blamed for her collapse at age 26. Doctors said she suffered severe brain damage when her heart stopped beating because of a potassium imbalance. Her brain was deprived of oxygen for 10 minutes before she was revived, doctors estimated.

Because Terri Schiavo did not leave written wishes on her care, Florida law gave preference to Michael Schiavo over her parents. But the law also recognizes parents as having crucial opinions in the care of an incapacitated person.

A court-appointed physician testified her brain damage was so severe that there was no hope she would ever have any cognitive abilities.

Still, her parents, who visited her nearly every day, reported their daughter responded to their voices. Video showing the dark-haired woman appearing to interact with her family was televised nationally. But the court-appointed doctor said the noises and facial expressions were reflexes.

Both sides accused each other of being motivated by greed over a $1 million medical malpractice award from doctors who failed to diagnose the chemical imbalance.

However, that money, which Michael Schiavo received in 1993, has all but evaporated, spent on his wife's care and the court fight. Just $40,000 to $50,000 remained as of mid-March.

Michael Schiavo's lawyers suggested the Schindlers wanted to get some of the money. And the Schindlers questioned their son-in-law's sincerity, saying he never mentioned his wife's wishes until winning the malpractice case.

The parents tried to have Michael Schiavo removed as his wife's guardian because he lives with another woman and has two children with her. Michael Schiavo refused to divorce his wife, saying he feared the Schindlers would ignore her desire to die.

Schiavo lived in her brain-damaged state longer than two other young women whose cases brought right-to-die issues to the forefront of public attention.

Karen Quinlan lived for more than a decade in a vegetative state � brought on by alcohol and drugs in 1975 when she was 21; New Jersey courts let her parents take her off a respirator a year after her injury. Nancy Cruzan, who was 25 when a 1983 car crash placed her in a vegetative state, lived nearly eight years before the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that her parents could withdraw her feeding tube.

Schiavo's feeding tube was briefly removed in 2001. It was reinserted after two days when a court intervened. In October 2003, the tube was removed again, but Gov. Jeb Bush rushed "Terri's Law" through the Legislature, allowing the state to have the feeding tube reinserted after six days. The Florida Supreme Court later ruled that law was an unconstitutional interference in the judicial system.

Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Michael Schiavo ordering autopsy

Husband says he wants rumors of Terri's condition put to rest

Michael Schiavo has ordered an autopsy of his brain-injured wife upon her death to put to rest rumors about her physical condition, according to the estranged husband's attorney, George Felos.

Felos said this afternoon Michael Schiavo believes the autopsy by the Pinellas County chief medical examiner "will show the public the full and massive extent of damage to her brain through her cardiac arrest in 1990."

Dampening the drama of Michael Schiavo's apparent change of heart on the issue, however, is the fact that Florida law actually requires an autopsy or other cause-of-death diagnostics to be performed on any deceased person for whom cremation has been requested.

Michael Schiavo contends his wife suffered a heart attack triggered by a chemical imbalance brought on by an eating disorder, but the Schindlers suspect oxygen was cut off to the brain because he tried to strangle her.

Critics also point to a bone scan that appears to show fractures occurring some time after she entered a hospital in 1990.

A reporter asked Felos if there would be a "full body scan for her supposed broken bones."

Felos replied, laughing: "You're watching too much CSI. I don't know what procedures they use for their autopsies."

Although all legal options appear to have been exhausted, Terri Schiavo's parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, say they have not given up hope 11 days after the feeding tube of their brain-injured daughter was removed by court order.

"We're kicking and scratching. As long as Terri is fighting, we're fighting with her," Robert Schindler said this evening to a spokesman who spoke a few moments later with WorldNetDaily.

Schindler acknowledged his daughter is "failing," but said she has shown extraordinary determination and "she is still cognizant, she is still aware."

"She has been through hell this week," he emphasized.

Terri Schiavo's sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, said, "The look on her face is 'please help me.'"

Family spokesman Gary McCullough told WorldNetDaily the Schindlers still believe there is time for Gov. Jeb Bush or President Bush to use their executive powers and intervene to save her.

But Gov. Bush said today that although his "heart is broken" about the situation, he must respect federal and state court rulings against re-inserting the feeding tube.

Activist Randall Terry told WND at about 8 p.m. there were still about 200 protesters and supporters of Terri Schiavo outside the Woodside Hospice in Pinellas Park.

Describing the mood, he said, "There is no despair; no one is talking about defeat. Everyone is still pursuing every avenue to save her."

"We are not giving up, because Terri is not giving up," he added.

The pro-life leader said the demonstrators don't believe all legal options are closed.

"We believe Congress should support its subpeona, and if need be send in federal marshals to enforce it," he said, referring to a last-minute effort before the feeding tube was removed March 18.

Asked if it was realistic to expect action at this late date, Terry said, "You never know what argument is going to arise to cause something to happen. You never know who is going to have an epiphany."

Monday, March 28, 2005

Call to Action Now: If Terri Schiavo dies, "Demand Autopsy" to discover not only the immediate cause of death, but the proximate cause of death.

This post was originally posted at Hyscience and BlogsforTerri on March 18, with the intent of laying the groundwork for what I continue to believe would be a cover-up for the murder of Terri Schiavo by her husband by abuse, juxtaposed with judicial fiat. The suggestion came from a physician reader, and it's time to let flood the medical examiner's office with the message. as he suggested.

The re-post of the message:

One need not wait for a future reporter to dig up the evidence. In fact, when she dies, the crime will be covered up by cremation without autopsy unless we act immediately to assure this is not the case.
Michael's "common-law wife" is his co-conspirator in the coverup (and may have been an accomplice in Terri's murder. Bigamy is certainly a lesser crime, but just as immoral.

Michael Schiavo intends to cremate Terri immediately upon her death. Please see the document here . The Medical Examiner must approve all such requests.

If Terri is killed by Michael and "Judge" [and Jury] Greer, then everyone must contact the Medical Examiner and demand an autopsy to discover not only the immediate cause of death, but the proximate cause of death. It is his ethical, legal, and moral responsibilty to certify that a crime did not occur.
Even Forensic Pathologist Michael Baden publicly stated that he believes that her original injuries were consitent with strangulation.
The Medical Examiner MUST perform an investigative autopsy prior to signing off on the cause(s) of death. He MAY use consultants should he wish.

The Medical Examiner can (and should) be subject to adverse license action by the Medical Board should he fail to exercise appropriate judgement in accordance with the state medical practice act. Allowing cremation without investigation and postmortem examination is not only malpractice, but it is illegal.
If Terri dies from this recent tube removal, we must all contact him immediately and demand justice for Terri. If a crime was committed, then several people need to go to jail including those who conspired to kill her (and cover it up)... Michael Schiavo, his live-in girlfriend, "Judge" Greer, the hospice staff, the physicians and those politicians and judges who failed to act on her behalf.

Contact information:
Jon R. Thogmartin, M.D., District Chief Medical Examiner
10900 Ulmerton Rd., Largo FL 33778
Telephone #. (727) 582-6800
Fax # (727) 582-6820
mailto:wpellan@co.pinellas.fl.us

2004, Psychiatric Expert Witness profiles Michael Schiavo

In response to several reader's emails asking if a psychiatrist had ever profiled Michael Schiavo's demeaner or possible psychiatric problems, I offer the following 2004 expert witness testimony. Mindful that this is an expert witness in behalf of the Schindler's position and therefore prejudicial to Michael's case. However, according to Dr. Lieberman's testimony, Michael's own psychiatrist warned the Schindlers to call the police.

--- "Michael has been under psychiatric care, including being prescribed several psychotropic medications. One of his treating therapists, Dr. Peter Kaplan, told Terri�s father that he should have called the police after Michael argued with Terri�s sister, Susanne, and Michael tried to attack her. This occurred right after Terri�s collapse, when they were all in a house together. Terri�s father told Susanne to lock her door and keep a hammer nearby."


--- "Michael fits the profile of an abusive husband. He should most definitely be investigated as the perpetrator of the �incident� that caused Terri�s collapse and her current condition."

Testimony of Carole Lieberman, M.D., M.P.H., Psychiatrist/Expert Witness
Diplomat, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology
Clinical Faculty, UCLA Department of Psychiatry
247 South Beverly Drive, Suite 202
Beverly Hills, CA 90212

July 12, 2004

Injury Report Prompted Schiavo Cremation Plans

Michael Schiavo decided to have his wife's body cremated after her parents' lawyers obtained medical records showing she had sustained broken bones, a nurse who cared for Terri Schiavo is now claiming.

"He wanted her cremated after the bone fractures and dislocations were found," nurse Carla Sauer Iyer, who cared for Terri in the mid-1990s while she was at the Palm Gardens Convalescent Center, told ABC Radio host Sean Hannity on Friday. "He immediately went to court and [said he] wanted her body cremated at that time," she said, "after we got hold of the records that proved there were dislocations and fractures."

A 1991 report on a bone scan performed on Terri Schiavo states:

"There are an extensive number of focal abnormal areas ... These include: multiple bilateral ribs ... both sacroiliac joints ... both knees and both ankles."

Radiographs reveal "compression fractures" of the spine and right femur. ... "Compression fracture presumably traumatic," the report says.

Nurse Iyer said she recently contacted Palm Gardens to encourage co-workers who also cared for Terri to speak out - but said they have been muzzled.

"The administrator had gotten them together and they talked about what happened with Michael," Iyer told Hannity. "The people who have worked with Terri who are still there, they cannot talk to reporters - they would be terminated."

Report: Schiavo Reacts to Friend�s Visit

Friar Paul O�Donnell, spiritual adviser to Bob and Mary Schindler, said Florida hospice patient Terri Schiavo - under court order to be starved and dehydrated to death - received a visit from her father, Bob Schindler, and an old girlfriend of hers Sunday night, resulting in an "extraordinary� reaction to the latter.

Identified only as Sherry, the friend, according to an account in the Miami Herald, reminisced about their old times dancing and partying together.

According to the Herald, O�Donnell said Schiavo "raised her hands up and was moving and started making guttural sounds - like she does when she talks to her mother."

In what has become a somber mantra in the Schiavo saga, some doctors have consistently insisted that Schiavo is in a chronic vegetative state and that any apparent feedback to loved ones is only reflexive reaction to touching.

Meanwhile, Schiavo has now gone 10 days without sustenance of any kind and reportedly has been started on a morphine drip to ease discomfort as she slowly slides from life.

"Everyone is willing to write this woman�s obituary except one person and that�s Terri Schiavo," Friar O�Donnell said Sunday after the visit at the Pinellas Park facility.

Supporters of allowing Terri to live still profess hope that Florida Gov. Jeb Bush will intervene to replace a feeding tube that has kept Schiavo alive the last 15 years, but Gov. Bush has said more than once in the last 48 hours that there is no more he can do.

Meanwhile, O�Donnell and other family spokesmen have been making regular pleas to replace the tube before it is too late.

8.5 quake occurs in Indian Ocean, tsunamis feared:

TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 001
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 1629Z 28 MAR 2005

THIS BULLETIN IS FOR ALL AREAS OF THE PACIFIC BASIN EXCEPT
ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA.

... TSUNAMI INFORMATION BULLETIN ...

THIS MESSAGE IS FOR INFORMATION ONLY. THERE IS NO TSUNAMI WARNING
OR WATCH IN EFFECT.

AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS

ORIGIN TIME - 1610Z 28 MAR 2005
COORDINATES - 2.3 NORTH 97.1 EAST
LOCATION - NORTHERN SUMATERA INDONESIA
MAGNITUDE - 8.5

EVALUATION

THIS EARTHQUAKE IS LOCATED OUTSIDE THE PACIFIC. NO TSUNAMI THREAT
EXISTS TO COASTLINES IN THE PACIFIC.

WARNING... THIS EARTHQUAKE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO GENERATE A WIDELY
DESTRUCTIVE TSUNAMI IN THE OCEAN OR SEAS NEAR THE EARTHQUAKE.
AUTHORITIES IN THOSE REGIONS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POSSIBILITY
AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION. THIS ACTION SHOULD INCLUDE EVACUATION
OF COASTS WITHIN A THOUSAND KILOMETERS OF THE EPICENTER AND CLOSE
MONITORING TO DETERMINE THE NEED FOR EVACUATION FURTHER AWAY.

THIS CENTER DOES NOT HAVE SEA LEVEL GAUGES OUTSIDE THE PACIFIC
SO WILL NOT BE ABLE TO DETECT OR MEASURE A TSUNAMI IF ONE WAS
GENERATED. AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE DANGER HAS PASSED IF NO
TSUNAMI WAVES ARE OBSERVED IN THE REGION NEAR THE EPICENTER
WITHIN THREE HOURS OF THE EARTHQUAKE.

THIS WILL BE THE ONLY BULLETIN ISSUED FOR THIS EVENT UNLESS
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE BULLETINS
FOR ALASKA - BRITISH COLUMBIA - WASHINGTON - OREGON - CALIFORNIA.

Judge who dissented in Schiavo case works from city

Friends of federal Judge Charles R. Wilson say his opinion might have reflected his faith and compassion.

TAMPA - When federal appeals court Judge Charles R. Wilson dissented last week from two key decisions in the Terri Schiavo case, some expressed surprise.

Days after Congress moved the Schiavo case to federal court, Wilson wouldn't go along with his colleagues' refusal to order Schiavo's feeding tube reinserted or to grant her parents' request for an emergency rehearing.

"I was surprised there was a dissent because I think this is such a clear case," said Stetson University law professor Michael Allen, who read the decisions.

Although Allen characterized Wilson as a "thoughtful" judge who isn't "reactionary in either direction," the professor speculated that Wilson's dissent was "based more on the emotional appeal of the case."

Others, however, saw it coming.

"It doesn't surprise me if he errs on the side of life and caution," said St. Petersburg lawyer Darryl Rouson, who considers Wilson a friend.

Wilson, 50, spent eight years as a Hillsborough County judge and U.S. magistrate before becoming the top federal prosecutor in Florida's middle district in the mid 1990s. In 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated him to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

Though he travels the states that his circuit covers - Florida, Georgia and Alabama - Wilson works out of Tampa, where his family still lives.

A message left at their home went unreturned.

As the U.S. attorney for the district encompassing more than 100 prosecutors in the Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Myers areas, Wilson is credited with bringing stability to an office some felt was in turmoil. The office took on health care scammers, criminal motorcycle clubs, Seminole casino operators and methamphetamine suppliers.

He cracked down on public corruption with indictments against a former Tampa City Council member and city attorney as well as sheriffs. He prosecuted a Baptist preacher who illegally financed a lifestyle of luxury.

"He's well regarded and well liked in the legal community in Tampa," Tampa lawyer John Fitzgibbons said. "He's just a guy you respect."

While he was U.S. attorney, Wilson's office played a role in the case of the fatal police shooting of an 18-year-old St. Petersburg man that set off two nights of racial disturbances in 1996.

In 1997, the office and federal civil rights investigators said they had "failed to uncover evidence" to indict a police officer for violating the teen's civil rights. The decision ended any possibility of criminal charges against the officer.

Some say Wilson's serious, often scholarly, public persona conceals a college football fanatic with great wit and a sense of humor.

Steve Barbas befriended Wilson more than three decades ago at Jesuit High School around the time Wilson was working at a West Tampa drugstore sweeping the floor. Today, they attend the same Catholic church in Tampa. The Wilsons are the godparents of Barbas' youngest daughter.

Barbas said he felt Wilson would dissent from the Schiavo rulings, though he was unsure why he felt that way. Barbas and others mentioned Wilson's "strong" ties to his Catholic faith.

"Faith is very important to him, it truly is," Barbas said. Still, Barbas said he was unsure whether it played a role in Wilson's dissent.

"I don't know that necessarily played a part in his decisionmaking," said Barbas, a workers' compensation attorney in Tampa. "I don't know what went through his mind in making his decision."

Rouson said he was impressed when Wilson pointed out in his dissent that Congress passed the extraordinary law last week to give the Schiavo case a "fresh set of eyes" in federal court.

"Mercy and practicality compel us to grant the relief requested," Wilson wrote. "I fail to see any harm in reinstating the feeding tube. On the other hand, a denial of the request will result in the death of Theresa Schiavo."

"He would rather err on the side of granting a fresh set of eyes than to forever foreclose any possible merits if death occurs," Rouson said. "This to me sounds just like Charles Wilson, a man who is compassionate but honors the historical practicality of the law with spiritual underpinnings of mercy."

Backers of Schiavo's parents head to Washington

Schindler spokesman disputes attorney over her condition


With their court battles apparently exhausted, supporters of Terri Schiavo's parents said Sunday that they would take their efforts to Washington on Monday.

The Rev. Patrick Mahoney, a conservative Christian activist who has become a prominent figure in the protests over Schiavo's case, said he will go to Washington to plead with congressional leaders and the Bush administration to enforce a subpoena issued March 18 by a House committee for the 41-year-old woman to appear before Congress.

The conclusion of Mahoney's news conference Sunday afternoon was disrupted by a minor scuffle among protesters jostling to get their signs within camera range.

After remarks by Randall Terry -- an activist against abortion rights who has been acting as a spokesman for Terri Schiavo's family, the Schindlers -- members of a group calling itself the Revolutionary Communist Youth Brigades seized control of the microphones and blasted Terry as a "Christian fascist thug" trying to interfere in "the most intimate affairs of life and death."

"[Terri Schiavo's] brain is not functional. It's not going to recover. Let her die in peace," pleaded Sunsari Taylor, a member of the group.

Before the disruption, Mahoney had said: "We are going to plead for Terri, to be her voice in Washington, D.C."

The congressional subpoena was quashed the same day it was issued by the Florida judge who ordered Schiavo's feeding tube removed, and the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal of that decision by Republican congressional leaders.

Mahoney said the fact that Schiavo has survived nearly 10 days since the removal of the tube that has supplied her with nutrition and water indicates that she wants to appear before the House Government Reform Committee.

He challenged House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, to show that he was not "just playing politics" with the subpoena.

With tensions flaring, security outside Schiavo's hospice in Pinellas Park, Florida, was doubled Sunday from the day before to as many as 10 police officers.

Protesters have gathered daily outside the hospice, and some have been arrested trying to enter the facility in ceremonial efforts to take water to Terri Schiavo.

Despite the Schindlers' requests that people spend Easter at home with their families, demonstrators showed up outside the hospice Sunday. Their son, Bobby Schindler, asked protesters to stop volunteering to be arrested.

"It's not going to help at all to do anything that's going to lead to arrests," Schindler said. Police "are here to do a job," he added.

Spokesmen disagree
The feeding tube that has been Schiavo's sole source of sustenance since 1990 was removed after a lengthy legal battle between her husband, Michael, and her parents.

Michael Schiavo says his wife would not want to be kept alive in her current state, and a succession of court rulings has supported him.

Attorneys for Michael Schiavo had no word on her condition Sunday.

But an attorney for Schiavo's parents said the woman who doctors have said is in a persistent vegetative state was "past the point of no return."

"Terri is declining rapidly. We believe she has, at this point, passed where physically she would be able to recover," David Gibbs, the Schindler family's lawyer, said on CBS' "Face the Nation."

But a few hours later, Terry rejected those remarks. He said Gibbs represents the Schindler family "in matters of court, but he did not represent them this morning when he gave that report about Terri."

Schiavo received Holy Communion on Sunday afternoon, said Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, who administered the rite along with the chaplain of the hospice where Schiavo lay.

"I gave her the drop of precious blood on the tongue, so we know she received Christ," Malanowski said. He said he was unable to give Schiavo the traditional host wafer "because her tongue is dry and parched."

Doctors have said she has been unable to swallow food since February 1990, when she collapsed in her home, suffering from cardiac arrest related to an eating disorder.

Schiavo suffered severe brain damage before paramedics were able to restart her heart. Michael Schiavo said his wife suffered from bulimia, an eating disorder that resulted in a potassium deficiency that triggered her heart failure.

Gibbs also said Terri Schiavo is receiving morphine for pain.

The American Academy of Neurology issued a position statement in 1988 on the persistent vegetative state, declaring that such patients "do not have the capacity to experience pain or suffering."

On Saturday, Bobby Schindler said Terri Schiavo was "not dying peacefully and painlessly."

But George Felos, an attorney for Michael Schiavo, visited her Saturday and said she was "calm," "peaceful" and "resting comfortably."

Governor Bush says he can't help
Earlier Sunday, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said there is nothing he can do to save Terri Schiavo's life.

"I cannot violate a court order," Bush said after attending Easter Sunday church services. "I don't have powers from the United States Constitution -- or for that matter from the Florida Constitution -- that would allow me to intervene after a decision has been made.

"I'm sad that she's in the situation that she's in," Bush said, commenting publicly on the case for the first time since Thursday. "I feel bad for her family. My heart goes out to the Schindlers and, for that matter, to [her husband] Michael [Schiavo]," Bush said. "This has not been an easy thing for any, any member of the family. But most particularly for Terri Schiavo."

To Terri Schiavo's parents -- who have said Bush should do more to help their daughter -- the governor said: "I can't. I'd love to, but I can't."

Her parents have lost nearly 30 legal opinions in both state and federal courts, which have consistently sided with Michael Schiavo, who also is Terri Schiavo's legal guardian.