Schiavo's husband, family battle in books

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A year after the death of Terri Schiavo, her parents and husband release books this week attacking each other over the decision to let the brain-damaged Florida woman die by removing her feeding tube.

Terri Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, at the age of 41, 13 days after the feeding tube was removed under a legal order granted to her husband, Michael, and opposed by her parents, the religious right, Republican leaders in Congress and President George W. Bush.

She had been in what her doctors said was a persistent vegetative state, unable to eat, think or communicate since her heart stopped beating for several minutes in 1990, starving her brain of oxygen. An autopsy showed her brain had atrophied to half its normal size.

Michael had long insisted that Terri had told him she would not want to continue living in such a condition. But her parents, Robert and Mary Schindler, said they believed she did not want to die and could improve with treatment.

Their long legal battle eventually became a cause celebre for the Christian right and other groups concerned about issues raised by the case. Bush, Congress, the Vatican and federal and state courts became involved and hundreds of demonstrators flocked to her hospice near St. Petersburg in the days before her death.

In their book, "A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo - A Lesson for Us All," the Schindlers again accuse Michael Schiavo of abusing Terri and say she wouldn't have wanted her feeding tube removed.

"Our family will never believe Terri wanted to die this way," Terri's brother, Bobby Schindler, said in an interview.

Bobby and his sister, Suzanne Schindler Vitadamo, helped write the book with their parents. It is published by Warner Books and proceeds are intended for a charitable foundation to support others who find themselves in similar circumstances.

In his book, "Terri: The Truth," Michael Schiavo said he was determined to carry out his wife's wishes despite death threats and other pressures.

"A religious zealot put a US$250,000 bounty on my head, urging that I be tortured before I'm killed. I was condemned by the president of the United States, the majority leaders of the House and Senate, the governor of Florida, the pope, Jesse Jackson and the right-wing media," Michael said in an excerpt from the book, written with Michael Hirsh and published by Dutton.

In an interview to be broadcast on NBC's "Dateline," Michael said, "I was doing something Terri wanted. And I couldn't give up on her. I came this far. And I wasn't gonna let anyone stand in my way.

"She's up there praising me right now and saying 'Thank you,"' he added. It wasn't clear what Michael Schiavo intended to do with any proceeds from the book.

Bobby and Suzanne said they try not to think much about Michael, but believe he should be questioned about what happened on the day Terri collapsed.

"We believe he knows what happened to her that night," Bobby Schindler said.

Michael has always said he woke up to find his wife unconscious on the floor of their apartment and immediately called for help.

A state investigation found no evidence of foul play and an autopsy found no sign that Terri had suffered any trauma or abuse, but could not determine the cause of her collapse.

Terri's feeding tube was first removed in 2001 but was reinserted two days later by a judge's order. It was removed again in 2003, but the Florida Legislature passed a special bill allowing Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother and a devout Catholic convert, to order the tube put back in.

That bill was ruled unconstitutional and the tube was removed for the final time on March 18, 2005.

Two days later, the US Congress passed a bill in a rare Sunday session at the urging of Republican leaders, requiring federal courts to review the case. President Bush flew back to Washington from Texas to sign the bill.

But a federal judge in Tampa refused to order the feeding tube reinserted and his decision was upheld by an appeals court and the US Supreme Court.

The Schindlers formed the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation in 2001 to help keep Terri alive and plan to continue it to help families in similar situations. Profits from their book will go to that foundation.

Michael Schiavo has formed a political action committee, Terripac, to endorse candidates who promise to keep the government out of family end-of-life decisions.

In January, he married Jodi Centonze, the woman he has lived with for almost a decade. They have two children.

Michael's book goes on sale March 27, a day before the Schindlers' book.

- REUTERS