Parents give up battle to keep Schiavo alive

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

But a string of Judicial rebuffs, including from the US Supreme Court, effectively ended the Schindlers’ seven-year legal dispute with Schiavo’s husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, over whether she should live or die. A failed appeal on Saturday to the Florida Supreme Court probably was the last significant legal opportunity to extend her life, Gibbs said.

A state court first ruled in 2000 that Schiavo should be allowed to die. It declared that she was in a ‘‘persistent vegetative state’’ since suffering a heart attack that deprived her brain of oxygen in 1990 and sided with her husband in ruling that she would not have wanted to live in that condition. Bob Schindler urged supporters to continue their vigil outside the hospice caring for their daughter, after earlier telling them they should go home and celebrate Easter with their families. —Reuters