PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Terri Schiavo, the brain-damaged woman who became the focus of a family feud that mushroomed into a national right-to-die debate, died Thursday, 15 years after slipping into what doctors said was a persistent vegetative state and 13 days after a Florida judge ordered her feeding tube removed. She was 41.
About 9 a.m., cradled by her husband, Michael, and holding a stuffed tabby cat under one arm, Schiavo "died a calm, peaceful and gentle death," said George J. Felos, Michael Schiavo's lawyer.
Terri Schiavo's parents were not at the hospice at the time. Her brother and sister were in her room -- which was decorated with lilies and roses -- before she died. But Felos said that hospice personnel asked them to leave so that Terri could be examined.
Bobby Schindler started arguing with a law enforcement official, Felos said. Michael Schiavo feared a "potentially explosive" situation and would not allow the brother in the room.
"Mr. Schiavo's overriding concern here was to provide for Terri a peaceful death with dignity," Felos said. "This death was not for the siblings, and not for the spouse, and not for the parents. This was for Terri."
The dispute over who would be at Schiavo's side -- and arguments over what would happen to her remains in coming days -- reflected the bitterness that had surrounded her case for years. What began as a private matter escalated into a legal battle and a political fight that occupied Florida's Legislature and governor and, more recently, Congress and the president.
Until Wednesday, Bob and Mary Schindler continued the legal battle to keep their daughter alive; they maintained that she had been misdiagnosed and could be helped through therapy.
Michael Schiavo said that his wife told him she never would have wished to be kept alive by artificial means.
The Rev. Frank Pavone, a Roman Catholic priest and spiritual advisor to the Schindlers, said Schiavo's death was "a killing."
"We grieve that our nation has allowed such an atrocity as this, and we pray that it will never happen again," Pavone said.
Outside the hospice, Schiavo's sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, thanked religious leaders, protesters, politicians and the media for taking an interest in Schiavo.
"After these recent years of neglect at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and care for her, she is finally at peace with God for eternity," Vitadamo said.
